Primary elections: Gallrein defeats Massie in Kentucky, furthering Trump’s hold on GOP

The victory by the state senator sets up a rematch for November, when she will again face Democrat Tina Kotek. Drazan ran against Kotek in 2022 and lost.

Drazan advanced from a crowded field of 14 GOP primary candidates that included a fellow Republican legislator and a former NBA player.

“I’m not surprised at all that Oregonians have rejected a completely unpopular tax increase,” Republican state Sen. Bruce Starr, who helped lead the gas tax referendum campaign, told The Associated Press Tuesday night. “Oregon voters will not be ignored. Oregon taxpayers will not be ignored.”

He’s a three-term congressman and member of the House’s conservative Freedom Caucus who has said Alabama deserves a “Trump conservative” in the Senate.

Trump has called Moore “a totally reliable MAGA Warrior!” During a brief telephone rally Monday night, Trump said: “Barry is going to do a fantastic job. He will fight for you in the Senate.”

Rep. Thomas Massie’s concession speech tonight welcomed his supporters to “the most expensive congressional primary ever in the 250-year history of this country.”

A little over $19 million was spent to benefit Trump-endorsed former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein’s campaign—and almost half of that money came from AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups. Massie benefited from around $14 million in the race to defend the seat he’s held since 2012.

At $32.8 million in ad spending, according to AdImpact, Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District is certainly the most expensive primary this year so far, drawing nearly triple the spending of the next highest race. Illinois’ 9th District, another primary fueled by AIPAC-associated funding, touted about $12 million in its Democratic primary.

Adair, a county commissioner in central Oregon’s Deschutes County, beat one opponent to win the Republican primary for the state’s 5th District.

The state’s lone competitive U.S. House district stretches from southern Portland across the Cascade Range to Bend, which is in Deschutes County.

Adair will face off against the incumbent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum, in November’s general election. Republicans are hoping they can win the seat back from Democrats after briefly flipping it for one term in 2022 for the first time in decades.

The Georgia Republican is still making the rounds at his watch party after qualifying for a June 16 Senate primary runoff against U.S. Rep. Mike Collins.

Different from many other candidates, Dooley has been milling about most of the night, starting soon after polls closed. Among his happiest supporters: his mother, 86-year-old Barbara Dooley.

Derek’s late father, Vince Dooley, was the longtime University of Georgia football coach and athletic director.

Barbara Dooley ran for Congress in 2002 and lost a Republican runoff. Vince Dooley considered a gubernatorial bid as a Democrat in 1990 but opted against it.
The legendary coach died in 2022, shortly after endorsing his former player, Republican Herschel Walker, in a failed Senate bid.

▶ See full results here

Republican Georgia state Rep. Dale Washburn was at Collins’ campaign party and said he encouraged Collins to run and was happy with the results.

“He is a good conservative. He’s a small businessman with real world, real life experience. And I like his style,” Washburn said. “I like his hard work. I like his practical approach to things. And I like the way he represents his constituents.”

Washburn also likes his chances of winning, saying Collins has a “great, grassroots organization.”

Angie Burdeshaw said she supports him because “I think that he’s an honest individual, and I feel like he is here for the people. And he’s just genuine.”

Collins faces a runoff against Derek Dooley.

Speaking at her celebration after winning the Democratic nomination for Georgia governor, Lance Bottoms vowed to stand up to the president.

She also said Georgians showed their voices would “never be silenced” and promised to make sure every resident had a chance to succeed.

“It means stopping Donald Trump every time his policies hurt Georgia, and also taking action here to make life better for people across the state,” she said.

The Democrat beat one opponent to win her party’s nomination for the state’s 5th District. The district stretches from southern Portland across the Cascade Range to Bend.

It was flipped by Republicans in 2022 for the first time in decades before Bynum reclaimed the seat for Democrats in 2024. Republicans are aiming to win it back.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature passed the contested gas tax increases last year when it also raised a series of other fees to help fix roads and close a gap in the state’s transportation budget.

Republicans launched a referendum campaign to refer it to the ballot and give voters the final say on whether to raise the tax by 6 cents to 46 cents a gallon.

The rejection of the tax is a win for Republicans. Democrats didn’t organize efforts to campaign for the gas tax increase, noting it was coming before voters as the Iran war causes prices at the pump to skyrocket. Some party members said in the lead-up to the primary that they anticipated voters would reject it.

▶ See full results here

They will compete in a June 16 runoff after neither candidate received at least 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary.

Collins, 59, represents a district east of Atlanta. Dooley, 58, is a lawyer and former football coach running for office for the first time.

Another candidate, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, did not qualify for the runoff.

The winner will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.

The seat is being vacated by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor.

▶ See full results here

Incumbent Jeff Merkley beat one opponent to win his party’s nomination. Merkley was first elected to the Senate in 2008 and political experts view his seat as safe.

Incumbent Tina Kotek beat nine opponents to win the Democratic primary. Political experts had expected her to win, as her challengers had raised little to no money and didn’t have experience in elected office.

Kotek will face off in November against whoever advances from a crowded Republican primary field of 14 candidates.

Voters in Oregon, a vote-by-mail state, had until 11 p.m. ET to drop off their ballots at a ballot dropbox or county elections office. Ballots postmarked by Election Day must be received within seven days in order to be counted.

Some of the biggest races on the ballot include a gas tax referendum and the crowded Republican primary for governor. The GOP had 14 candidates vying to challenge Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, who is expected to advance from her primary.

▶ See full results here

Jones advanced to a runoff in the Republican primary for governor and will face Rick Jackson.

James Gilbert was at Jones’ campaign headquarters with his 7-year-old daughter. He said he likes that Jones is “very family oriented.” Gilbert called Jones a “hometown guy” who is willing to talk to anyone who approaches him.

He feels confident Jones will win the runoff.

“He’s out here every day in the trenches with the people. He’s out here. He’s going from one border to the other in the state, working for the people,” Gilbert said.

Claire West said she has been volunteering for Jones’ campaign since February. Like Gilbert, she admires Jones’ stress on the importance of family.

“His family, they’re salt-of-the-earth people,” she said. “They’re relatable. They’re not billionaires. They’re like your next door neighbors.”

A self-described “proud troublemaker,” Rabb is a member of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives, where he made a name for himself by backing left-wing causes. He will almost certainly go to Washington next year to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Dwight Evans since no Republican filed to run in the majority Black district.

Rabb was endorsed in the four-way primary by progressive stalwarts including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and online streamer Hasan Piker.

He fended off Sharif Street, a state senator and former state party chair who had prominent establishment backers and a familiar name as the son of John F. Street, the city’s former two-term mayor. Rabb also beat Dr. Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon who was backed by millions of dollars from 314 Action, a left-leaning political action committee aimed at electing scientists to Congress.

One of Rick Jackson’s top backers, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King, said he doesn’t see Trump’s support for Burt Jones as a barrier for Jackson winning a runoff for the GOP governor’s nomination.

But King hopes the president and his advisers will see that “the political logic is to not engage and let the voters decide.”

King argued that “it’s not that complicated,” because the president “endorsed Burt early on when there was no competition, and now there’s real competition. This was never intended to be a coronation.”

King said he thinks Georgia’s rank-and-file conservatives will see Jackson and “his background as an outsider” as “more similar to President Trump.”

Asked specifically whether Trump should at least withhold criticism of Jackson during the runoff campaign, King smiled and said, “It’s not my place to be asking the president to do anything like that.”