Katie Britt, a former chief of staff to retired Sen. Richard S. Shelby of Alabama, won the Republican nomination for deputy to her former boss on Tuesday, conveniently defeating a right-wing rival in a race that puts the 40-year-old to be the youngest woman in the United States Senate.
Alabama’s Senate primary was Tuesday’s primary race, with a handful of Southern states holding primary or runoff, and a Texas re-run in the Texas House of Representatives last month’s victory gave the moderate Democratic leader victory.
The race for the Senate in Alabama took a number of distorting turns with the participation of former President Donald J. Trump, who turned the primary season in 2022 into a continuous referendum on his influence. Mr Trump has carefully kept a record in choosing Republican primary winners, and his change of allegiance in Alabama was one of the best examples of his obsession with winning – and avoiding – before the 2024 presidential race. which he continues to annoy loudly.
But in Georgia, where Mr Trump suffered his most serious political setbacks since 2022 last month, the former president continued to suffer losses as two congressional candidates he backed lost their run-offs on Tuesday.
Yet even in contests in which Mr. Trump’s chosen candidates hesitated this year, those who won them in the primary rarely broke up with the former president. Many have run as allies of Trump even without his official support.
In Alabama, Mr. Trump initially offered his “full and full approval” to Representative Mo Brooks, an ally in Congress who spearheaded efforts to cancel the 2020 election and who spoke at a rally on January 6, 2021 near the White House. , preceding the Capitol Revolt.
Katie Britt spoke to supporters in Montgomery, Alabama, on Tuesday. Credit … Charity Rachel for The New York Times
But when Mr Brooks immersed himself in opinion polls, Mr Trump revoked that approval, leading to the first round of voting in May. The former president says this is because Mr Brooks has completely stopped accepting his lies about the 2020 election. of Congress, lobbyist and former president of the Alabama Business Council.
Ms Britt, who was privately lobbying for the approval, finished well ahead in the May primary by almost 45 per cent, almost enough to avoid a run-off. She was a big favorite in opinion polls when Mr Trump backed her earlier this month.
“Alabama is talking,” Britt said in a victory speech in Montgomery, Alabama, on Tuesday night. “We want new blood.”
Ms Britt added that she was in the race, although skeptics told her: “You are too young. Wait your turn. ”
Mr Trump has won a number of decisive victories in the Senate primary in 2022: Dr Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, JD Vance in Ohio, Herschel Walker in Georgia and Ted Bud in North Carolina. He performed worse in the gubernatorial race, losing to Georgia, Idaho and Nebraska. In the run for governor of Pennsylvania, as well as in the race in the Senate of Alabama, Mr. Trump later approved a favorite for political victory.
More than $ 41 million was spent on television advertising in the Alabama race, with about twice as much spent on commercials supporting Ms. Britt as Mr. Brooks said, according to AdImpact, a company that tracks advertising spending.
Mrs. Britt is running as a Christian conservative, with the cross of her necklace clearly visible in a number of her television commercials, including one she shot at the border as she vows to “fight to finish President Trump’s wall.”
Without Mr. Trump’s support, Mr. Brooks is campaigning against Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, saying Mr. Trump was “cheated” by Republicans in Kentucky and accusing Mr. Trump of disloyalty. He held his party on election night at an indoor shooting range in Huntsville, Alabama, on Tuesday and was not in a charitable mood.
“Voters have spoken, but they have not spoken sensibly,” Mr Brooks said, adding that the groups that spent money on Mrs Britt said: “I am not happy with the congratulations on these special interests, but they are running Montgomery. They govern Washington, DC. They drive the political debate. “
In Georgia and Virginia, voters helped determine the direction of the Republican Party in a number of key races in Congress by organizing closely watched matches in November. And in Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser defeated three main opponents in his bid to become the first mayor in the country’s capital since Marion Barry in the 1990s to win three consecutive terms.
Muriel Bowser, left, the mayor of Washington, D.C., greeted Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, right, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a rally against gun violence in Washington. Credit … Shuran Huang for The New York Times
In Texas, a fierce clash between Democrats in the Laredo border region was announced Tuesday, nearly a month after the May 24 run-off, as moderate Henry Cuelar survived a second major challenge by Jessica Cisneros, a lawyer who was once his intern. A rerun by the Texas Democratic Party found Mr Cuelar winning 289 votes.
For Mr. Trump, Georgia proved to be his most challenging country in 2022.
Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican whom Mr. Trump had set as his primary target of defeat because he certified the 2020 election, won a re-nomination last month, easily pitting a Trump-backed contender. That night, the former president saw his election as Georgia’s secretary of state, insurance commissioner and attorney general be defeated by Republican allies along with Mr. Kemp. Mr Trump’s election as vice governor and US Senate did win open competition in May.
But on Tuesday, two of Mr Trump’s election to the House of Representatives lost in Georgia.
In Georgia’s 10th District, Vernon Jones, a longtime Democrat who backed Mr Trump in 2020, became a Republican and is now known as “Black Donald Trump” – lost to Mike Collins, the son of a former congressman, in a race that became particularly nasty.
Collins’ campaign issued rape signals in the name of Mr. Jones to draw attention to a specific 2005 indictment and history of misconduct with women. Mr Jones filed a police report against Mr Collins, claiming that the tweet was threatening.
Mike Collins, left, and Vernon Jones spoke at a debate in Atlanta earlier this month. Credit … Brin Anderson / Associated Press
Mr Jones was initially running for governor, but he ran for the House of Representatives on the instructions of Mr Trump, who had backed him. Mr Kemp backed Mr Collins, putting Georgia’s governor back at odds with the former president.
In the redrawn Sixth District, which is currently held by a Democrat but was redrawn in a Republican seat, Jake Evans, a lawyer, lost to Rich McCormick, a doctor. Mr Trump backed Mr Evans, the son of a former ambassador appointed by Mr Trump.
But Mr Trump’s personal defeats are not necessarily a sign that the party base is somehow ready to break away from his wider movement. Mr. Collins, for example, is running as a “pro-Trump” Republican, and McCormick’s ad called him “always America’s first candidate.”
The former president has chosen to stay out of the closely watched third Republican primary in the southwest corner of Georgia. Jeremy Hunt, a 28-year veteran who received national support as a young black Republican, resigned late Tuesday to Chris West, a member of the Georgia National Guard. The result is seen as disappointing, as Mr Hunt lifted 10 times more than Mr West and finished first in the first round of voting last month.
Mr West will now face Sanford Bishop Jr., a Democrat whom Republicans consider vulnerable this fall.
Also in Georgia, State Representative Bi Nguyen won the Democrats’ nomination for Secretary of State over Dee Dawkins-Heigler, a former MP. Ms. Nguyen finished first in the primary and has since received the approval of Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor.
Ms. Nguyen will face Georgian Republican Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger, who responded to Trump’s major challenge in May and witnessed the January 6 hearing in Washington on Tuesday as he testified about his role in opposing Mr. Trump’s efforts to cancel the 2020 election
In Virginia, Republicans chose their nominees in two contests in the House of Representatives, where incumbent Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria are vulnerable because of the national political environment and new areas.
Jen Keegans is celebrating after winning the Republican nomination for a place at the House in Virginia Beach on Tuesday night. Credit … Carlos Bernat for The New York Times
In place of Ms. Luria, who is based in Virginia Beach and has become less democratic in rewriting, national Republicans backed U.S. Sen. Jen Keegans, who defeated Navy veteran Jerome Bell. Mr Bell had received a late boost from an advertisement that appeared to be backed by Democrats’ efforts to nominate a nomination that Democrats say could be more easily won in November.
Mr Bell, who denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election, called for an audit of all 50 states and for “the execution of all those involved in election fraud”.
In place of Ms. Spanberger, Jesley Vega, head of Prince William County, who was approved by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, finished first in a six-party primary, creating what is expected to be a highly contested race this fall.
Ms. Spanberger and Ms. Luria, who is on the House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 attack, were elected in 2018, Mr. Trump’s first by-election, when Democrats took power. Now they are trying to survive in 2022, according to research …
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