Former United States President Donald Trump has been seeking revenge since Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger denied his demands to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
That battle comes to a head on Tuesday as Georgia voters head to the polls to choose the preferred Republican and Democratic candidates for November’s general election that will determine control of Congress. Other primary races to watch are in Alabama, Arkansas and Texas.
If the Republicans win a majority in the House of Representatives or the Senate, it would be a blow to President Joe Biden, a Democrat, as they would almost certainly block his legislative agenda.
In the Georgia governor race, Trump backed former U.S. Senator David Purdue against Kemp, but Purdue fell behind in fundraising and opinion polls. Kemp has gained broad support from other Republicans and is favored to win.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s top election official, Raffensperger, is facing a challenge from Representative Jody Hice, a US congressman who backed Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Georgia
In Georgia on Monday, former Vice President Mike Pence is expected to campaign with Kemp, while Trump will participate in a virtual rally for Purdue.
Since leaving office, Pence has distanced himself from Trump over the former president’s claims about the 2020 election.
“Mike tries to get involved, and he’s a very nice guy, but he really let us all down. He let us down,” Trump said on a radio talk show earlier this month. Trump had recruited Purdue to take on Kemp.
Kemp would face Stacey Abrams, an unopposed Democrat, in a rematch of their 2018 battle.
Trump’s candidate for the US Senate in Georgia, football legend Herschel Walker, appears to be heading for the Republican nomination.
But some Republicans have warned that Walker will be ineligible in November against incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock. Walker was accused of threatening his ex-wife’s life, exaggerating his professional record and lying about graduating from the University of Georgia.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a political lightning rod, tries to stave off several Republican challengers to win renomination in the House of Representatives.
The Trump sidekick was stripped of her committee assignments last year for racial slurs, embracing conspiracy theories and a past endorsement of violence.
A group of voters tried unsuccessfully to eliminate him from the ballot, accusing him of having helped foment the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol.
Alabama
An opening created by the retirement of longtime Sen. Richard Shelby has kicked off a heated primary battle for the Senate seat in Republican-dominated Alabama.
U.S. Representative Mo Brooks, a Trump ally, faces Katie Britt, the former head of the Business Council of Alabama and former Shelby chief of staff, and businessman Mike Durant, best known as the pilot of army helicopter shot down and held captive the 1993 ‘Black’. Hawk Down incident in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Arkansas
In Arkansas, two-term U.S. Senator John Boozman is hoping to fend off a challenge from three Republican rivals in a race in which he had to rely on his endorsement of Trump.
Mild-mannered Boozman adopted a more aggressive tone in his campaign ads, promising to complete Trump’s wall along the US-Mexico border.
Boozman’s rivals include a former NFL player, who attacked Boozman as not being conservative enough, and a conservative activist and former television journalist.
Former Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders is heavily favored in her Republican gubernatorial primary. She faces a long-running main challenge from a former talk show radio host. His father Mike Huckabee served as governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007.
Sanders broke fundraising records and focused primarily on domestic issues, airing TV spots criticizing Biden on issues such as inflation while ignoring his rivals.
Texas
Runoff votes in Texas will ultimately settle two primary races of interest. Republican George P Bush, a nephew of former US President George W Bush, is vying for the post of attorney general against incumbent Ken Paxton, who has faced court scandals.
Among Democrats, Rep. Henry Cuellar, an anti-abortion politician, faces a challenge from Jessica Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration lawyer and pro-abortion rights advocate.
More broadly, Republican voters are divided over another Trump presidential run.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is gaining national prominence, came out on top in a mock poll of Republican activists in Wisconsin over the weekend, according to a report from WisPolitics.com. Party convention attendees favored DeSantis 38% to Trump’s 32% in the race for the US presidency.
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