Transphobic Republicans win but key Trump ally loses: 5 results from the Republican primaries
Georgia governor Brian Kemp, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene all won their GOP primary elections. (Getty/Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency/Chip Somodevilla/Jessica McGowan)
Republican voters turned out in force to push through major and controversial GOP players in primary elections across Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas.
Candidates endorsed by Donald Trump were utterly crushed during the Georgia primary election Tuesday (24 May), by Republicans who were targeted by the former president.
Trump recruited ex-senator David Perdue to run in the Republican primaries after incumbent governor Brian Kemp refused Trump’s pleas to overturn the 2020 Georgia election results.
Georgia governor Brian Kemp walks on stage after winning renomination to be the Republican candidate for governor on 24 May 2022. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty)
Kemp beat his challenger by a massive 50 percentage points, trouncing any hope of Trump’s pick to see Georgia’s gubernatorial office.
“Conservatives across our state didn’t listen to the noise,” Kemp said at his victory party in Atlanta. “They didn’t get distracted. They knew our record of fighting and winning for hard-working Georgians.”
Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperfer and attorney general Chris Carr also fought off challenges to their seats during the primaries.
Marjorie Taylor Greene sweeps Georgia primary election
Marjorie Taylor Greene discussed evoking martial law to keep Donald Trump in power, according to text messages. (Getty/Kevin Dietsch)
The anti-trans congresswoman is once again the Republican nominee for the 14th congressional district of Georgia after easily winning her primary. Greene was comfortably leading her closest opponent by about 50 per cent when the GOP primary race was called just before 9pm on Tuesday.
The win came despite her being stripped of her committee memberships; making hateful comments about her colleagues; facing fierce criticism for posts in which she appeared to endorse violence against Democrats; confronting a Parkland shooting survivor with baseless claims; being permanently banned from Twitter for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
Anti-trans Texas attorney general Ken Paxton may see another term in office
Texas attorney General Ken Paxton beat his opponent George P Bush in their Republican primary runoff. (Getty/Chip Somodevilla)
In Texas, the two-term attorney general won the Republican primary over George P Bush, the Texas general land office commissioner. Paxton was endorsed by Trump and is known for leading a legal battle to investigate the supportive families of trans youth for “child abuse”.
The primary election result marked the first time in decades that a member of the Bush political dynasty had lost a statewide primary in Texas, according to the Independent.
A shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde cast a devastating shadow over the Texas primaries. At least 19 children and two adults were killed when a suspect, identified as Salvador Ramos, opened fire at Robb elementary school.
President Joe Biden has urged lawmakers to pass stricter gun laws while Paxton called for teachers and “potentially other administrators” in schools to be armed.
Trump’s former press secretary is a step closer to becoming Arkansas’ governor
(Win McNamee/Getty)
Former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Arkansas. She’s now one step closer to following in her father’s footsteps and becoming governor of the state.
Sanders swept the vote with nearly 83 per cent of the votes in Tuesday’s primary election over her opponent, former talk radio host Francis “Doc” Washburn.
Kay Ivey, who signed the ‘most anti-trans legislative package ever’ into law, trounced her opponents
Alabama governor Kay Ivey beat eight opponents in the GOP primary election. (Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty)
The incumbent governor has a track record of championing anti-LGBTQ+ measures and signed one of the most restrictive laws around transgender healthcare in the US this year.
Incumber Alabama governor Kay Ivey easily won the Republican primary for governor on Tuesday, putting her on track to win a second full term in November’s general election. Ivey beat out a total of eight competitors after she secured 54 per cent of the GOP votes.
Her two biggest rivals, Tim James and Lynda Blanchard, had never been elected to public office but still had strong ties to the Republican party. Blanchard was appointed by Trump in 2019 to serve as an ambassador to Slovenia. James is the son of a former Alabama governor, Fob James, and faced harsh criticism after he targeted LGBTQ+ kids in a campaign ad.
