What Went Down During The May 24 Primary Elections
Like last week’s big state run, Trump’s endorsement record looks pretty mixed tonight. Of course, there are races where his chosen candidate won or is leading by nearly insurmountable margins (like the lieutenant governor and Senate races in Georgia tonight). But his chosen challengers to incumbent candidates fell short. His picks in open primaries (Jake Evans and Vernon Jones) are trailing, but the leading candidate is still under 50 percent, meaning they’ll get another shot.
Trump endorsed two of his preferred candidates — Herschel Walker for Senate in Georgia, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders for governor in Arkansas — all the way back in 2021. That could’ve contributed to their front-runner status during their campaigns and their easy victories tonight. That might suggest Trump’s endorsement power is waning with actual voters.
How Trump’s endorsees are doing tonight
Senate, House and gubernatorial candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump and their results in Republican primaries or runoffs in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Texas, as of 10:51 p.m. Eastern
| Candidate | Office | % Reporting | Vote Share | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Carl* | AL-01 | 0% | 0.0% | ✓ Won |
| Barry Moore* | AL-02 | 0 | 0.0 | ✓ Won |
| Mike Rogers* | AL-03 | 79 | 81.9 | ✓ Won |
| Robert Aderholt* | AL-04 | 0 | 0.0 | ✓ Won |
| Gary Palmer* | AL-06 | 0 | 0.0 | ✓ Won |
| John Boozman* | AR Sen. | 60 | 58.1 | ✓ Won |
| Sarah Huckabee Sanders | AR Gov. | 62 | 82.8 | ✓ Won |
| Rick Crawford* | AR-01 | 55 | 73.2 | ✓ Won |
| Bruce Westerman* | AR-04 | 0 | 0.0 | ✓ Won |
| Herschel Walker | GA Sen. | 86 | 69.3 | ✓ Won |
| David Perdue | GA Gov. | 88 | 22.4 | ✗ Lost |
| Buddy Carter* | GA-01 | 99 | 100.0 | ✓ Won |
| Jake Evans | GA-06 | 64 | 23.4 | Trailing |
| Andrew Clyde* | GA-09 | 95 | 76.2 | ✓ Won |
| Vernon Jones | GA-10 | 99 | 21.3 | Trailing |
| Barry Loudermilk* | GA-11 | 73 | 100.0 | ✓ Won |
| Rick Allen* | GA-12 | 99 | 100.0 | ✓ Won |
| Marjorie Taylor Greene* | GA-14 | 99 | 70.3 | ✓ Won |
And in the land of Big Lie candidates — of which there were a disconcerting number tonight — the vast majority of wins came from incumbent members of Congress who voted not to certify the election results, but who were expected to win their races tonight. As we move forward, the secretary of state race is worth watching. Right now, Brad Raffensperger is up with 51.2 percent of the votes, and if he will avoid a runoff if he keeps that lead. Otherwise, I’ll be watching closely on June 21 to see if Jody Hice, a truly vehement denier of the results of a democratically executed election, becomes the Republican nominee for Georgia’s chief election official.
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.