Georgia Primary Results Advance Key Races to June Runoffs

More than 1 million Georgians voted early. According to ballot data, 56.7% of early voters chose Democratic ballots, 41.7% chose Republican ballots, and the remainder chose nonpartisan ballots.

Georgia Primary Elections Head to Runoffs

Georgia held primary elections on Tuesday, with several key contests for Senate and Governor advancing to runoffs scheduled for June 16, as no candidate in those races secured a majority of the vote.

Governor's Race

The Republican primary for governor will proceed to a runoff between Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare executive Rick Jackson. Both candidates advanced after no candidate received a majority of the vote.

• Burt Jones has served as lieutenant governor since 2023. He received an endorsement from President Donald Trump. He was investigated by federal prosecutors for his role as a purported fake elector in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, but was not charged in 2024.
• Rick Jackson, owner of a healthcare company, has self-funded over $80 million of his campaign. He has aligned himself with Trump and compared himself to the president as a fellow billionaire, though he has not received Trump's endorsement.
• Both candidates have spent millions on television advertisements attacking each other since Jackson entered the race in early 2025.
• Candidates eliminated from the race include Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state Attorney General Chris Carr. Raffensperger had a public disagreement with Trump in 2020 when Trump asked him to "find" enough votes to change the state's election outcome. Carr described himself as a "Brian Kemp Republican," referencing Georgia's governor who has sometimes been at odds with Trump.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic primary outright. She is endorsed by former President Joe Biden. Other Democratic candidates included former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (who switched from Republican to Democrat), former state Sen. Jason Esteves, and former labor commissioner Michael Thurmond.

U.S. Senate Race

Incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff was unopposed for his party's nomination for a second term.

Representative Mike Collins emerged as the top Republican candidate to challenge Senator Ossoff. He will face Derek Dooley in a June 16 runoff. Derek Dooley is endorsed by Governor Brian Kemp. President Trump has not endorsed in the Senate primary.

Georgia Supreme Court Races

Two Georgia Supreme Court justices, Charlie Bethel and Sarah Warren, won re-election against Democratic-backed challengers Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin. Judicial elections in Georgia are nonpartisan and decided on primary ballots. The court currently considers the constitutionality of a six-week abortion ban.

Context

Georgia has a Republican-controlled state government and two Democratic U.S. senators. The state is expected to be pivotal in November elections that may determine party control of the Senate. Georgia is considered a competitive swing state after voting for Joe Biden in 2020 and for Donald Trump in 2024, where Trump won the state by approximately 11,000 votes.

A special legislative session on redistricting is scheduled to begin June 17.