What Went Down During The May 24 Primary Elections

I’m signing off for tonight. Only about 14 percent of the vote is in for the Democratic primary in Minnesota’s 1st District, but it has basically been Jeff Ettinger’s race to lose all night: He’s currently got 62.3 percent of the vote. If he wins tonight, though, he’ll have a harder time in the general election. Republicans are favored to win this district.

Before I sign off for the evening, let’s check back in on a few races I was keeping an eye on. First up: the GOP race for Alabama governor. As of right now, it looks like Kay Ivey will avoid a run-off in her bid for a second term. She’s got 55.4 percent of the vote with a little over half of votes returned.

Let’s turn back to the Republican primary in Georgia’s 10th District. As I mentioned earlier, Mike Collins (who has questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election) is in the lead, but with 25.2 percent of the vote and 65 percent of votes reporting, it will likely go to a run-off. He’ll be facing off against Vernon Jones, a lapsed Democrat who crossed the aisle after supporting Trump’s reelection bid. Originally, Jones was running for the GOP nomination for governor, but Trump had already thrown his support behind Perdue in that race.

If Jones agreed to switch to a congressional race instead, the former president promised him an endorsement, and Jones took him up on the offer. But unlike most Trump endorsees, who quickly get the backing of Trump’s base, many MAGA types were not too fond of Jones and questioned the endorsement. Aside from his sullied past as a former Democrat, I found far-right Republicans online were troubled by allegations of rape that had been made against Jones (which Jones denies, and charges for which were dropped). But because Trump can do no wrong, many justified the endorsement as Trump’s attempt to bring attention to Jones and “expose” him.