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      The Big Lie and the Midterms

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      Eric Krupke, Mooj Zadie, Nina Feldman and Paige Cowett and Marion Lozano and Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | StitcherIn Pennsylvania, a candidate falsely claiming election fraud in 2020 prevailed in a crowded Republican primary for governor. But in Georgia, two incumbents — the governor and the secretary of state — beat back challenges from “stop the steal” opponents.Is re-litigating the 2020 election a vote winner for Republicans? Or is it increasingly becoming a losing issue?On today’s episodeReid J. Epstein, a politics reporter for The New York Times who covers campaigns and elections.Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia resoundingly won the Republican nomination against a candidate backed by former President Donald J. Trump.Nicole Craine for The New York TimesBackground readingTwo G.O.P. primaries in Georgia exposed the limit of Donald J. Trump’s hold on his party’s base.But Doug Mastriano’s win in Pennsylvania has provoked dissension and anxiety among Republican strategists, donors and lobbyists.There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.Transcripts of each episode are available by the next workday. You can find them at the top of the page.Reid J. Epstein contributed reporting.The Daily is made by Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Kaitlin Roberts, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Anita Badejo, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Chelsea Daniel, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky and John Ketchum.Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Cliff Levy, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Sofia Milan, Desiree Ibekwe, Wendy Dorr, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli and Maddy Masiello. More

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      At Least Trump Didn’t Get What He Wanted This Week

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      Well, the people have spoken. Sort of.Several major elections this week, and the big story was Georgia. The race Donald Trump certainly seemed to care about most was a Republican primary there involving his enemy Gov. Brian Kemp.Trump, as the world knows, hates hates hates Kemp for insisting on reporting the accurate results of Georgia’s voting in the 2020 presidential race. The rancor runs so deep that Trump’s Save America PAC actually coughed up at least $500,000 toward Kemp’s defeat.Normally, our ex-president sits on his cash like a nesting hen. Must have tugged at his heartstrings to see it being carted away. And to no avail, hehehehehehe. Trump recruited former Senator David Perdue to run against his enemy, and Kemp demolished Perdue by more than three to one.Same story with Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, who Trump told to “find 11,780 votes” after the presidential election and give him the win. Didn’t happen! Yet this week, Raffensperger did so well with Georgia Republican voters that he’s not even going to face a primary runoff.If you’ve got an optimistic nature, here’s a spin you can put on the whole story: Tuesday’s results showed regular Republicans aren’t all still steaming about how the 2020 presidential election was stolen from their man. And they’re not all going to the polls to get revenge.They’re ready to — dare I say it? — move on. No better example than Mike Pence. “I was for Brian Kemp before it was cool,” the former vice president told a crowd near Atlanta.Yes, he really said that. It will be remembered as yet another sign of the wrecked relationship between Trump and his former No. 2. It was also perhaps the only moment in American history when Mike Pence was linked with the word “cool.”OK, that’s enough voter happiness. Back down to Planet Earth. The newly reaffirmed Governor Kemp announced on Tuesday that he and his family were “heartbroken” by the “incomprehensible” school shooting in Texas.Now, Kemp recently signed a bill that will allow Georgians to carry handguns in public pretty much whenever they feel like it — no license or background check required. You’d think — at least wish — that he’d consider a possible link between the wide, wide availability of firearms in this country and the tragic line of mass shooting deaths. Anything can make a difference.Compared with the elementary school shooting in Texas, everything else about this week will be a political footnote. But some of the footnotes are certainly interesting. If we want to pick a theme for Tuesday’s elections, it might be that Donald Trump’s influence isn’t nearly as strong as he thinks it is, and that he may be the only American voter whose chief preoccupation is revisiting the 2020 election on an hourly basis.Getting over it is something Trump can’t abide. Consider the primary in Alabama for a Republican Senate candidate. Perhaps you remember — if you’re very, very, very into elections — that Trump began by backing Representative Mo Brooks, then changed his mind and unendorsed him? Cynics believed Trump had just decided Brooks was a loser, but it’s also possible the congressman had offended our former president by urging voters to “look forward.”That’s the wrong direction to mention when you’re hanging out with the Trump camp.“Mo Brooks of Alabama made a horrible mistake recently when he went ‘woke’ and stated, referring to the 2020 presidential election scam, ‘Put that behind you, put that behind you,’” Trump said as he retracted his endorsement.The outcome of all this drama was that Brooks got less than a third of the vote, behind Katie Britt, the former chief of staff of retiring Senator Richard Shelby. Since Britt failed to get 50 percent, there will be a runoff. Winner will face Democratic nominee Will Boyd this fall.One addendum — which you should really skip over if you’re feeling even modestly depressed: Both Britt and Brooks are in the gun camp as deep as humanly possible. Britt has ads in which she’s aiming a rifle and promising to “shoot straight.” The N.R.A., which endorsed Brooks, praised his efforts to protect “interstate transportation of firearms.” Those of us in states that are desperately trying to keep gun proliferation under control would appreciate it if he focused his energies on something else.Trump’s biggest election night triumph may have been Herschel Walker, the former football player he backed for a Georgia Senate nomination. But Walker’s competition wasn’t exactly top-notch, and now he’ll be running against Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, who will probably take note of a few items on Walker’s résumé that Trump overlooked. Including allegations of domestic violence, refusal to take part in debates, and the day on the campaign trail when Walker expressed doubt about the theory of evolution. (If it were true, Walker mused, “Why are there still apes? Think about it.”)On the plus side, there was Walker’s eagerness to spend $200,000 entertaining people at Mar-a-Lago. Nothing, it appears, raises the former president’s enthusiasm for a candidate like a willingness to make Donald Trump wealthier.All told, reporters found that seven of the Republicans Trump endorsed this year spent a total of more than $400,000 in campaign money at the resort. So yeah, our ex-president lost a lot politically this election season. But he gained a chunk of cash.Maybe he’ll use some of it for tips when he speaks on Friday at the N.R.A.’s three-day convention in Houston.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. More

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      Stacey Abrams Fights Headwinds From Washington in Georgia Rematch

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      ATLANTA — When Teaniese Davis heard that Stacey Abrams was holding a public event on Tuesday morning, she raced to a church parking lot teeming with two dozen cameras and members of the news media, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of Georgia’s most famous Democrats.“People know who she is,” Ms. Davis, who works in public health research, said of her state’s Democratic nominee for governor. “A lot of people are bought into who she is.”Republicans are bought into Ms. Abrams, too. Even as they fought among themselves in vigorous primary battles, Ms. Abrams has featured prominently in G.O.P. ads and debates as a potent symbol of the threat of Democratic ascendance in the state.Now, as Ms. Abrams hurtles into a general election against Gov. Brian Kemp in what will be among the most closely watched governors’ races in the nation, her candidacy will offer a vivid test of a significant question facing Democratic candidates this year. To what extent can clearly defined, distinctive personal brands withstand the staggering headwinds facing the Democratic Party, as Republicans seek to nationalize the midterm campaigns at every turn?Ms. Abrams and Mr. Kemp are technically in a rematch, but their race is unfolding in a vastly different political climate compared with 2018, when Ms. Abrams electrified Democrats as she vied to become the country’s first Black female governor. Ms. Abrams cemented her status as a national star even in narrow defeat, while her party, buoyed by opposition to former President Donald J. Trump, went on to retake the House of Representatives. Roughly two years later, Georgia helped deliver the presidency and then the Senate majority to the Democrats, an emphatic break with the state’s longtime standing as a Republican bastion, and Ms. Abrams was widely credited with helping to flip the state.Now, President Biden’s approval rating is a drag on Democrats like Ms. Abrams, inflation has soared, Mr. Kemp is an entrenched incumbent and Mr. Trump is not on the ballot. Ms. Abrams isn’t just a galvanizing force for Democrats, she has become a common enemy for Republicans trying to unite their party after divisive primaries.Voters in Dalton, Ga., on Tuesday for the state’s primary elections, where turnout was up compared with 2018.Nicole Craine for The New York TimesThat primary competition helped drive up turnout for Republicans on Tuesday. Roughly 1.2 million people voted in the G.O.P. primary for governor, compared with 708,000 people who voted for Ms. Abrams, who was unopposed. Both of those numbers are up from 2018, the last midterm primary, but Republican participation doubled.“We’re definitely seeing the enthusiasm on the Republican side,” said Jacquelyn Bettadapur, the chairwoman of the Cobb County Democratic Committee. Ms. Bettadapur said she sees a role reversal for the parties. After losing the White House in 2016, Democrats were motivated to stage a comeback.“It was a real sort of kick in the pants to get the Democrats engaged and mobilized, which we did,” she said, adding that Republicans are now “in that same situation.”After the Georgia Primary ElectionThe May 24 races were among the most consequential so far of the 2022 midterm cycle.Takeaways: G.O.P. voters rejected Donald Trump’s 2020 fixation, and Democrats backed a gun-control champion. Here’s what else we learned.Rebuking Trump: The ex-president picked losers up and down the ballot in Georgia, raising questions about the firmness of his grip on the G.O.P.G.O.P. Governor’s Race: Brian Kemp scored a landslide victory over David Perdue, delivering Mr. Trump his biggest setback of the 2022 primaries.2018 Rematch: Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor, will again face Mr. Kemp — but in a vastly different political climate.Ms. Bettadapur stressed that Democrats, too, were motivated, singling out the Supreme Court’s possible overturning of Roe v. Wade as a potentially galvanizing force. The state has a law, signed by Mr. Kemp and poised to take effect if Roe is overturned, that prohibits abortions after about six weeks from conception. Ms. Bettadapur also noted, in an interview before the deadly Texas elementary school shooting on Tuesday, that Mr. Kemp’s moves to loosen gun restrictions might be off-putting to many Georgia voters.Ms. Abrams’s campaign on Wednesday hit Mr. Kemp for his record on guns in a statement, calling attention to a 2018 campaign ad in which Mr. Kemp holds a shotgun in his lap and asks a teenager who wants to court his daughter to recite his campaign platform.“Years from now, Kemp will be remembered as a one-term governor who pointed a gun at a boy on television,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, Ms. Abrams’s campaign manager.Hundreds of Mr. Kemp’s supporters packed into the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday night to celebrate his victory. In his speech accepting the party’s nomination, Mr. Kemp encouraged his supporters to organize, asking all of them to make phone calls and knock doors “like we’ve never knocked before” heading into November. His goal, he said, is not only to be re-elected but also to stunt Ms. Abrams’s political future.Gov. Brian Kemp at his primary watch party Tuesday. “I think you’re going to see Republicans up and down the ballot and all over the country united,” he said earlier.Nicole Craine for The New York Times“You can see the choice on the ballot this November is crystal clear,” he told the crowd amid shouts of “four more years!” from some. “Stacey Abrams’s far-left campaign for governor in 2022 is only a warm-up for her presidential run in 2024.”Ms. Abrams’s campaign declined to comment on Mr. Kemp’s remarks, but a spokesman confirmed that she intended to serve a full term as governor if elected.Ms. Abrams, the former minority leader in the Georgia statehouse, has been particularly focused on engaging more Black, Hispanic and Asian American voters in an increasingly diverse state. The party has used Georgia’s ballooning population as a springboard to those efforts — census data shows that more than one million people moved to the state between 2010 and 2020, with most in deep-blue Metro Atlanta counties.“Clearly they have signed up a lot of new folks over the past four years and you have to give it your hand to them for what they’ve done there,” said Saxby Chambliss, a former Georgia senator, even as he stressed that “if Republicans get out and vote, we’re a red state.”Among Ms. Abrams’s new challenges this year is building a case against the governor while his approval rating hovers around 50 percent. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll from January found that Georgians were more optimistic about the direction of the state than that of the nation.In a recent speech, Ms. Abrams cited Georgia’s maternal health, gun violence and health-insurance rates. “I am tired of hearing about being the best state in the country to do business when we are the worst state in the country to live,” she said over the weekend, a remark she later defended as an “inelegant delivery of a statement that I will keep making: and that is that Brian Kemp is a failed governor.”Mr. Kemp seized on the comments to cast himself as a Georgia booster and declared “that is why we are in a fight for the soul of our state.”Understand the 2022 Midterm ElectionsCard 1 of 6Why are these midterms so important? More

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      Georgia primaries deliver blow to Trump’s grip on Republican party – live

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      It was supposed to be the moment of Donald Trump’s triumphant revenge over Georgia’s governor Brian Kemp and the other RINOs (Republicans in name only) he excoriated for rebuffing his big lie of a stolen presidential election.But as his chosen candidates fell one by one in Tuesday’s primary elections, a new reality was dawning over the former president: the total control the self-appointed kingmaker believed he still wielded over the Republican party is no longer intact.Reaction to last night’s events was coming in on Wednesday, although, notably, nothing yet from the former president himself, who put his reputation and – for once his money – behind former senator David Perdue’s doomed attempt to unseat Kemp.But others had plenty to say.Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who was among a number of senior Republicans, including ex-vice president Mike Pence, to back Kemp, celebrated the demise of Trump’s “vendetta tour” in a tweet.Enormous win tonight for @BrianKempGA. I am so proud of and happy for my friend—and just as importantly for the Georgia GOP and the people of Georgia. They were not going to kick out a great Governor or be willing participants in the DJT Vendetta Tour.— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) May 25, 2022
      Kemp goes on to face Democrat Stacy Abrams – who won her party’s primary Tuesday unopposed in November in a rematch of their 2018 battle, which Kemp won narrowly.Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, who memorably denied Trump’s request that he “find” votes in 2020, secured the Republican nomination for re-election against the Trump-backed congressman Jody Hice.The state’s Republican party was quick to celebrate:Congratulations Brad Raffensperger, Republican nominee for Secretary of State#LeadRight #gapol #GeorgiaOnTheLine pic.twitter.com/12BrILSlvm— GAGOP (@GaRepublicans) May 25, 2022
      And Georgia’s Republican attorney general Chris Carr beat back a challenge from John Gordon, who made Trump’s stolen election myth a central plank of his campaign.Not all Trump-aligned candidates in Georgia fell: his pick for Senate, former NFL star Herschel Walker, cruised home. And congresswoman Marjory Taylor Greene won her race at a canter.But Republican leaders will worry that Walker, who has a history of domestic violence, is the wrong candidate to be taking on Democratic senator Raphael Warnock in the fall. And that Greene’s extremism will turn off independent voters.My colleague Lauren Gambino has this look at how Trump’s chosen candidates went down, and how Kemp’s victory marks a “resounding setback” for the former president’s quest to punish those who dared to cross him:Resounding setback for Trump as Kemp wins Republican primary in GeorgiaRead moreThanks for following the US politics blog today. We’re closing down here, but you can keep up with developments in our live blog covering the Texas elementary school massacre here.Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican party loosened with defeat for his “big lie” candidates in several key Georgia primary races. But the former president was more focused on his weekend appearance at the national rifle association’s weekend convention in Houston.Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary from last week might not be settled until next month after the state’s elections chief said the deadlocked race between Trump’s pick, celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz, and David McCormick, was headed for a recount.Here’s what else we followed:
      Joe Biden’s hopes of taming inflation before November’s midterm elections were dashed by an economic outlook released by the congressional budget office on Wednesday afternoon that says the crisis will persist into next year.
      Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats would not immediately bring gun legislation to a vote because of Republican opposition.
      Public approval of the supreme court dropped sharply to 44% following the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn the Roe v Wade decision guaranteeing abortion rights nationwide, according to a Marquette Law School poll.
      Liz Cheney, the Republican vice chair of the January 6 House panel investigating Donald Trump’s insurrection, has Covid-19.
      Joe Biden’s hopes of taming inflation before November’s midterm elections look to have been dashed by an economic outlook released by the congressional budget office on Wednesday afternoon that says the crisis will persist into next year.High prices and the soaring cost of gas threaten to derail Democrats’ hopes of retaining control of Congress in the fall, and Biden last week promised tackling them was his “top domestic priority”.Wednesday’s report from the non-partisan agency predicts the consumer price index will rise 6.1% this year and 3.1% in 2023, the Associated Press said. This forecast suggests that inflation will slow from current annual levels of 8.3%, yet would still be dramatically above a long-term baseline of 2.3%.The CBO cautions its numbers “are subject to considerable uncertainty, in part because of the ongoing pandemic and other world events,” including Russia’s war in Ukraine.Maya MacGuineas, president of the committee for a responsible federal budget, told the AP ahead of the report’s release that the pandemic, war in Ukraine and other factors point to the importance of reducing the annual deficit.“Unfortunately, the underlying story here is one of fiscally unsustainable positions and on top of that, we have this added challenge of inflation and a reminder that external shocks continue to come at us,” she said. CBO Director Phillip Swagel highlights the main findings of “The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2022 to 2032,” which was released today. https://t.co/AanxPE9ctK— U.S. CBO (@USCBO) May 25, 2022
      Joe Biden is about to sign an executive order increasing accountability in law enforcement and creating a national database of police misconduct.In a statement from the White House, the president says the steps are needed following the killing two years ago of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a white police officer, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Two years ago, the murder of George Floyd exposed for many what Black and Brown communities have long known and experienced – that we must do more to ensure that our nation lives up to its founding promise of fair and impartial justice for all.
      The incident sparked one of the largest social movements this country has ever seen, with calls from all corners to acknowledge the legacy of systemic racism in our criminal justice system and in our institutions more broadly. As well as creating the database, Biden’s order bans the use of chokeholds and carotid restraints unless deadly force is authorized, and restricts the use of no-knock entries, such as the one used by police in Kentucky who killed an unarmed Black woman, Breonna Taylor, at her home in March 2020. It also requires new standards that limit the use of force and require de-escalation for all federal agencies, among other measures.I’ve called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, but Senate Republicans have stood in the way of progress. That’s why this afternoon, I’m taking action and signing an Executive Order that delivers the most significant police reform in decades.— President Biden (@POTUS) May 25, 2022
      The Biden administration blames Republicans in the senate for blocking the George Floyd justice in policing act, forcing the president to take executive action.Read more:Biden to sign police reform executive order on George Floyd anniversaryRead morePennsylvania’s top election official said Wednesday that last week’s Republican Senate primary is heading for a recount, with no winner likely until June.Celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz is virtually deadlocked with former treasure official David McCormick in the hotly contested race to take on Democratic nominee John Fetterman in November’s election.Leigh Chapman, Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of state, said in a statement that the vote totals for the top two finishers fell well within the 0.5% margin for an automatic recount after the deadline for counties to report unofficial totals.Oz, who is endorsed by Donald Trump, led McCormick by 902 votes, or 0.07% of 1,343,643 ballots reported by the state by Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.The agency said it would not declare a winner until the recount is complete, possibly as late as 8 June.Counties continued counting hundreds of ballots on Wednesday, including provisional, military and overseas absentee ballots.He might have lost the endorsement of Donald Trump, but Republican Alabama congressman Mo Brooks’s challenge for a US Senate seat is very much alive, and heading for a June runoff.Some analysts expected the loss of Trump’s backing, a revenge act for Brooks’s comments that he believed voters should look forward instead of dwelling on the 2020 election that the former president lost, would be fatal.But Brooks, formerly a staunch Trump ally and mouthpiece, earned enough if the vote on Tuesday to secure a runoff with Katie Britt, former chief of staff to Senator Richard Shelby, whose retirement opened up the Alabama seat.Trump initially endorsed Brooks, but pulled his backing in March.“Mo Brooks of Alabama made a horrible mistake recently when he went ‘woke’ and stated, referring to the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, ‘Put that behind you, put that behind you,’ despite the fact that the Election was rife with fraud and irregularities,” Trump said in a statement. In response, Brooks, a six-term congressman, issued an angry statement claiming Trump had asked him to “rescind” the 2020 election and remove Joe Biden from the White House.Brooks was a prominent figure at the “Save America” rally at the Ellipse in Washington DC on 6 January 2021 that preceded the storming of the Capitol building by Trump supporters. “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass,” Brooks told the crowd before the riot.It’s been a lively morning so far in US political news and there is more to come, so do stay tuned, Here’s where things stand:
      Texas Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar was still locked in a tight primary runoff race with progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros on Wednesday, but has already faced criticism from the party’s progressive wing in Congress due to his anti-abortion and pro-gun views.
      Senate Democrats declined on Wednesday to bring gun safety legislation to a vote right now, with leader Chuck Schumer saying that he knows that the bills will not pass due to Republican opposition.
      Public approval of the US Supreme Court has dropped sharply following the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v Wade.
      Liz Cheney, the Republican vice chair of the January 6 House panel investigating Donald Trump’s insurrection, has Covid-19.
      The former president faced a resounding setback as Georgia’s governor Brian Kemp won the state’s Republican primary, defeating former senator David Perdue, a Trump ally who embraced the myth of a stolen election.
      Donald Trump released a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying that he still plans on attending the NRA convention in Houston this weekend.“America needs real solutions and real leadership in this moment, not politicians and partisanship,” the former president wrote. “That’s why I will keep my longtime commitment to speak in Texas at the NRA Convention and deliver an important address to America.”In his statement, Trump made a peculiar stylistic choice and put the word massacre in quotes.Trump is not cancelling his appearance at the NRA convention this week in Houston, he says on Truth Social pic.twitter.com/BF4WZO6M10— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) May 25, 2022
      Anyway, an interesting twist of irony is that people won’t be able to carry firearms when attending Trump’s speech. It seems this rule is one made by the Secret Service, which told NPR that it has the “authority to preclude firearms from entering sites visited by our protectees, including those located in open-carry states”.For all the live news on the school shooting in Texas, do head over to our other live blog currently running, here.Texas Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar was still locked in a tight primary runoff race with progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros on Wednesday, but “the Squad” is already angry, regardless of the result.New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among the most prominent of the party’s progressive wing in Congress, called out its leaders for backing the anti-abortion, pro-gun Cuellar over Cisneros.“On the day of a mass shooting and weeks after news of Roe, Democratic Party leadership rallied for a pro-NRA, anti-choice incumbent under investigation in a close primary,” the politician known as AOC tweeted.“Robocalls, fundraisers, all of it. Accountability isn’t partisan. This was an utter failure of leadership”.On the day of a mass shooting and weeks after news of Roe, Democratic Party leadership rallied for a pro-NRA, anti-choice incumbent under investigation in a close primary. Robocalls, fundraisers, all of it.Accountability isn’t partisan. This was an utter failure of leadership.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 25, 2022
      Senior Democrats including Nancy Pelosi campaigned for Cuellar, a nine-term congressman, as he sought to fend off the challenge from Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration attorney.Cuellar has already declared victory, but according to the Associated Press on Wednesday, the race is still too close to call. Cuellar led Cisneros by 175 votes, or 0.38% of the 45,209 ballots counted by 2am.The winner will face Cassy Garcia, who won the Republican runoff for the seat, in November’s midterm elections.Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said on the chamber floor Wednesday morning that he will not be bringing any gun legislation to a vote in the immediate future, saying he knows that the bills will not pass due to Republican opposition.Speaking after Tuesday’s massacre of 19 children and two teachers by a gunman at Robb elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Schumer said:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}I believe that accountability votes are important, but sadly this isn’t a case of the American people not knowing where their senators stand. Americans can cast their vote in November.The Associated Press reported that Schumer swiftly set in motion a pair of firearms background-check bills in response to the school massacre, but acknowledged the unyielding rejection by Congress of previous legislation to curb the national epidemic of gun violence..css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}If the slaughter of schoolchildren can’t convince Republicans to buck the NRA [national rifle association], what can we do? But he said he would continue to work on advancing bipartisan legislation.Follow our live blog on the Texas school shooting here.From my colleagues Maanvi Singh and Joan E Greve, these are the Guardian’s main takeaways from primary night, which was understandably overshadowed by the massacre of elementary school children in Texas:
      Blow to Donald Trump as a political kingmaker
      Key race for Georgia secretary of state signals defeat for ‘big lie’ candidate
      But Trump acolytes performed better in Arkansas and Texas
      Elementary school shooting casts pall over the night
      Democratic races also hold interest
      Read the full story here for their observations:Five key takeaways: the US midterm electionsRead morePeople who take part in insurrections against the US government can be barred from office, an appeals court said on Tuesday, reversing a ruling in favor of Madison Cawthorn, an extremist Republican politician from North Carolina. Hailing a “major victory”, Free Speech For People, the group which brought the case, said: “This ruling cements the growing judicial consensus that the 1872 Amnesty Act does not shield the insurrectionists of 6 January 2021 – including Donald Trump – from the consequences of their actions.”Cawthorn lost a primary this month and will not return to Congress in November. But Free Speech For People pursued an appeal.It also brought cases against Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, two Arizona Republicans, Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, and an Arizona state representative, Mark Finchem. All have been unsuccessful.The challenges cited the the 14th amendment to the US constitution, passed after the civil war.It says: “No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath … to support the constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”Cawthorn and the other Republicans were closely tied to events around the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to stop certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. They have denied knowledge of plans for violence.Read the full story:Blow to Madison Cawthorn as appeals court reverses ‘insurrectionist’ rulingRead morePublic approval of the supreme court has dropped sharply following the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn the Roe v Wade decision guaranteeing abortion rights nationwide, according to a new poll.Disapproval of the nation’s highest court was especially pronounced among the roughly two-thirds of US adults who oppose overturning Roe, the Associated Press says, while support for the court was high among those in favor, according to the Marquette Law School poll, which also found increased partisan polarization in approval.Approval fell to 44%, with 55% disapproving of how the court is handling its job, the sample of more than 1,000 adults between 9 and 19 May found.In March, 54% approved and 45% disapproved, itself a massive drop from the 66% approval the panel enjoyed in September 2020, the month that long-serving justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died.Approval was fairly steady among Republicans from March to May this year, but fell sharply among Democrats and slightly among independents.New Marquette Law School national poll finds overall approval of US Supreme Court has dropped 10 percentage points since March, from 54% to 44%, and disapproval has gone up from 45% to 55%. #mulawpoll— MULawPoll (@MULawPoll) May 25, 2022
      Donald Trump’s big lie lost bigly in Georgia on Tuesday night. Some might take this as proof that his spell over the Republican party has finally been broken, but that is what the Republican party wants people to believe. The former president had been waging a personal vendetta against Georgia’s governor Brian Kemp and secretary of state Brad Raffensperger for failing to overturn the 2020 presidential election in his favor.Trump handpicked former senator David Perdue and congressman Jody Hice to challenge Kemp and Raffensperger in the Republican primaries. Both parroted the big lie and both were soundly beaten. It was a tangible sign that even many Trump voters are now weary of “stop the steal” and eager to look forward. It was also a blow to Trump in a primary season where his scattergun endorsements have come up with a decidedly mixed win-loss record.But studying Trump’s recent record as kingmaker misses the point. In fact, it actively helps Republicans create the illusion that they have moved on from “Make America great again” (Maga) even as they continue to push its radical rightwing agenda.It all began with Glenn Youngkin, who last year won election as governor of Virginia as a Trump-lite Republican. He never campaigned alongside the ex-president but also took pains to avoid criticizing him and alienating his base. “Don’t insult Donald Trump but do everything to keep him away,” was how columnist Peggy Noonan put it in the Wall Street Journal.Youngkin projected the image of a safe, sane, old school Republican who could win back suburban and independent voters. But he went Maga by pushing hot button issues such as coronavirus mask mandates, transgender bathrooms and “critical race theory” and portraying his opponent as a “woke” liberal. He flirted with, but did not embrace, Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.The formula has been emulated in various ways by candidates facing extreme Trump-backed challengers. It worked for Brad Little, the governor of Idaho, and now for Kemp in Georgia. Neither should be mistaken for “NeverTrumpers” in the mould of Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger or Larry Hogan. Read the full story:Trump-backed nominees lost in Georgia, but can Republicans escape the specter of Maga?Read moreLiz Cheney, the Republican vice chair of the 6 January House panel investigating Donald Trump’s insurrection, has Covid-19.The Wyoming congresswoman and Republican party pariah made the announcement in a tweet that said she was fully vaccinated and boosted, and following federal guidelines.She said she received a positive test this morning, and was “experiencing mild symptoms”. pic.twitter.com/lEoQGk3Ru4— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) May 25, 2022
      If Brian Kemp’s obliteration of David Perdue’s challenge wasn’t bad enough for Donald Trump, the failure of the former president’s pick Jody Hice to topple Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger might have stung even more.Raffensperger was, of course, the recipient of Trump’s infamous call following the 2020 election asking him to “find” the votes he needed to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state, which is now the subject of a criminal probe.The refusal of Georgia’s Republican officials to bend to Trump’s will resulted in his furious campaign of vengeance, which fell flat on Tuesday when voters soundly rejected the “big lie” candidates he wanted to install.Raffensperger’s victory wasn’t as sizeable as Kemp’s, but he still achieved more than 50% of the vote, enough to avoid a run-off and win him the Republican nomination outright. Brad Raffensperger found the votes.— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) May 25, 2022
      My colleague Sam Levine has taken a look at Raffensperger’s victory and how it was, arguably, the biggest blow yet to Trump’s efforts to install compliant officials in positions of authority:Brad Raffensperger defeats Trump bid to oust him as Georgia’s top election officialRead moreIt was supposed to be the moment of Donald Trump’s triumphant revenge over Georgia’s governor Brian Kemp and the other RINOs (Republicans in name only) he excoriated for rebuffing his big lie of a stolen presidential election.But as his chosen candidates fell one by one in Tuesday’s primary elections, a new reality was dawning over the former president: the total control the self-appointed kingmaker believed he still wielded over the Republican party is no longer intact.Reaction to last night’s events was coming in on Wednesday, although, notably, nothing yet from the former president himself, who put his reputation and – for once his money – behind former senator David Perdue’s doomed attempt to unseat Kemp.But others had plenty to say.Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who was among a number of senior Republicans, including ex-vice president Mike Pence, to back Kemp, celebrated the demise of Trump’s “vendetta tour” in a tweet.Enormous win tonight for @BrianKempGA. I am so proud of and happy for my friend—and just as importantly for the Georgia GOP and the people of Georgia. They were not going to kick out a great Governor or be willing participants in the DJT Vendetta Tour.— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) May 25, 2022
      Kemp goes on to face Democrat Stacy Abrams – who won her party’s primary Tuesday unopposed in November in a rematch of their 2018 battle, which Kemp won narrowly.Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, who memorably denied Trump’s request that he “find” votes in 2020, secured the Republican nomination for re-election against the Trump-backed congressman Jody Hice.The state’s Republican party was quick to celebrate:Congratulations Brad Raffensperger, Republican nominee for Secretary of State#LeadRight #gapol #GeorgiaOnTheLine pic.twitter.com/12BrILSlvm— GAGOP (@GaRepublicans) May 25, 2022
      And Georgia’s Republican attorney general Chris Carr beat back a challenge from John Gordon, who made Trump’s stolen election myth a central plank of his campaign.Not all Trump-aligned candidates in Georgia fell: his pick for Senate, former NFL star Herschel Walker, cruised home. And congresswoman Marjory Taylor Greene won her race at a canter.But Republican leaders will worry that Walker, who has a history of domestic violence, is the wrong candidate to be taking on Democratic senator Raphael Warnock in the fall. And that Greene’s extremism will turn off independent voters.My colleague Lauren Gambino has this look at how Trump’s chosen candidates went down, and how Kemp’s victory marks a “resounding setback” for the former president’s quest to punish those who dared to cross him:Resounding setback for Trump as Kemp wins Republican primary in GeorgiaRead moreGood morning and welcome to the midweek edition of the US politics blog.Donald Trump is facing a cold new reality this morning: the total power he thought he still held over the Republican party is no longer a thing. Resounding defeats for his “big lie” candidates David Perdue, Jody Hice and John Gordon in Tuesday’s primaries in Georgia were a stunning rebuke for what critics have called Trump’s “vendetta tour” – his plan to take out the state’s top officials who rebuffed his efforts to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden.Former senator Perdue was trounced by incumbent governor Brian Kemp, Hice failed to topple secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, and Gordon fell to attorney general Chris Carr.It wasn’t a total blowout for Trump-aligned candidates in Georgia: his pick for Senate, former NFL star Herschel Walker, cruised home. And congresswoman Marjory Taylor Greene won her race at a canter. But that in itself is alarming Republican leaders, who worry that Walker, who has a history of domestic violence, is the wrong candidate to be taking on Democratic senator Raphael Warnock in the fall, and that Greene’s extremism will turn off independent voters.
      In Alabama, Republican congressman Mo Brooks lost Trump’s endorsement, but won enough votes to reach a run-off to hold on to his seat.
      In Texas, attorney general Ken Paxton, who spoke at Trump’s 6 January Washington rally that preceded the Capitol insurrection, saw off a challenge from George P Bush, grandson of former president George HW Bush.
      And the only anti-abortion Democrat in the House, Henry Cuellar, has declared victory over progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros in their Texas district.
      We’ll have lots more reaction coming up to the primary elections in Georgia and other states that voted Tuesday, so please stay with us. More

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      Tuesday’s Republican primaries did not go as Trump had hoped | Lloyd Green

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      Tuesday’s Republican primaries did not go as Trump had hopedLloyd GreenSome of the Trump-endorsed candidates won. But for the most part it seems like his sway in 2022 may have peaked On Tuesday, Georgia’s Republicans delivered a beat-down to Donald Trump. Across the board, they rejected his picks for state office. Governor Brian Kemp and attorney general Chris Carr, both incumbents, each grabbed more than 73% of the primary vote. Meanwhile, Brad Raffensperger, Trump’s bete noire and Georgia’s secretary of state, escaped a runoff as he cleared the crucial 50% mark.In the aftermath of the 2020 election, the trio collectively refused to “find” 11,780 votes for Trump. Instead, they defended the verdict of Georgia’s voters, accepted Joe Biden’s win and earned Trump’s wrath. Now, less than two years later, they reminded Trump that he was merely an influential bystander to comings and goings in the Peach state.Their collective humiliation of the 45th president was now complete. Adding insult to injury, a Georgia grand jury continues to weigh whether to indict Trump for his ham-handed alleged effort to influence the election. Meanwhile, betting pools place the chances of Florida’s Ron DeSantis winning the 2024 Republican presidential nominee on par with the former guy.For the record, Tuesday was not a total wipeout for Trump. He could point to wins among a motley crew he could call his very own.Herschel Walker captured the Republican nod for Georgia’s senator. A legendary University of Georgia football star, Walker also possesses a record of alleged domestic violence and abuse.His friendship with Trump spans decades. Walker played football for the New Jersey Generals, Trump’s team in the short-lived USFL. On the campaign trail, Walker claimed he had never heard Trump denounce the 2020 election as stolen.Likewise, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the hyper-performative high-priestess of Maga-hood, sailed to renomination in north-west Georgia. Whatever consternation she may cause nationally, it was not discernible in her home district. She notched nearly 70% of the vote.Over in Texas, Ken Paxton defeated George P Bush in a runoff for attorney general. Paxton, the incumbent attorney general, cruised to a runoff victory over the grandson of one president and the nephew of a second.Of all Republican state attorney generals, Paxton was the most slavishly loyal to Trump. In December 2020, Paxton filed a lawsuit in the US supreme court against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He accused the four electoral battlegrounds of having “destroyed” the public’s trust and “compromised the security and integrity of the 2020 election”.Some things never change. After Tuesday’s Texas school massacre, Paxton suggested arming teachers as a solution. Gun control was not an option. Trump, Texas governor Greg Abbott, and Senator Ted Cruz are set to speak at a National Rifle Association meeting scheduled for later this week in Houston.But the evening’s dominant messages to Trump in contests for state office were clear. Competence and performance still counted, and incumbent officeholders possess a political arsenal of their very own.Earlier this year, Jay Walker, a Kemp adviser, repeatedly told deep-pocketed donors that the governor stood ready to gut his challenger, David Perdue, Trump’s pick and a defeated former US senator.“We’re going to go fucking scorched-earth,” Walker supposedly said. “When you got your foot on someone’s neck, you don’t take it off until the race is over, or they’ve run out of oxygen.”Unlike congressmen and senators, voters expect governors to get things done; Kemp did just that. The Associated Press called his race just 90 minutes after the polls closed.Then again, Perdue offered Republicans little reason to vote for him. He had lost his 2021 insurrection eve runoff to Jon Ossoff, a candidate once graphically derided by the late and toxic Rush Limbaugh.Practically speaking, Perdue should have just stamped a giant “L” on his own forehead. He was damaged goods from the start.On the campaign trail, Perdue repeated the big lie that the 2020 elections were stolen. But as a member of one of Georgia’s pre-eminent political families, his shtick reeked of pandering.His heart wasn’t in it. Beyond that, he had marinated his closing message in unalloyed racial resentment, with remarks widely interpreted as lashing out at Stacey Abrams, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, for simply being Black.Significantly, Trump’s defeats in Georgia follow his recent losses in the Idaho and Nebraska gubernatorial Republican primaries. In other words, Kemp’s win fits an emerging pattern.In Idaho, Janice McGeachin, the state’s Trump-endorsed lieutenant governor and a favorite of the far right, failed to dislodge the already very conservative governor, Brad Little. Unlike Little, McGeachin delivered a video address to the America First Political Action Conference, an event organized by Nick Fuentes, a prominent white nationalist.Over in Nebraska, Charles Herbster, the Trump-endorsed candidate, went down in defeat after several women accused him of sexual misconduct. Apparently, Trump’s own “luck” on that score was personal, and not readily transferable to Herbster. Instead, Nebraska Republicans went with Jim Pillen, a University of Nebraska regent, who was endorsed by the state’s Republican establishment.To be sure, the spirit of Maga remains very much alive. Marjorie Taylor Greene will return to Congress. Herschel Walker is holding his own in hypothetical match-ups against Senator Raphael Warnock. Even Kemp is no never-Trump. Yet Trump’s endorsement can no longer be reflexively equated with a primary victory.Ask Mehmet Oz; he can tell you. Right now, Pennsylvania continues its count of primary ballots. A recount looms. Whether Dr Oz, a Trump endorsee, holds on remains to be seen. Regardless, Trump’s sway in 2022 may have peaked.
      Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York. He was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush’s 1988 campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
      TopicsUS politicsOpinionDonald TrumpRepublicansGeorgiaIdahoNebraskaTexascommentReuse this content More

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      Four Takeaways From Tuesday’s Elections

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      Tuesday was a booming repudiation of former President Donald J. Trump’s relentless preoccupation with the 2020 election. In Georgia, his voter-fraud-focused choices for governor and attorney general were roundly defeated, while his pick for secretary of state lost to a man who stood up to those false claims two years ago.But it would be a mistake to interpret these results as a wholesale rejection of Mr. Trump himself. His gravitational pull on Republican voters warped every one of Tuesday’s primaries, shaping candidates’ positions and priorities as they beat a path to Mar-a-Lago.It was a bittersweet evening for progressives, who remain in suspense about the fate of their challenger to a conservative Democratic incumbent in Texas. But in another House race in the Atlanta suburbs, the party’s left flank ousted one of the “unbreakable nine” Democrats who balked at President Biden’s social spending plans. Here are a few key takeaways from this week’s primaries, among the most consequential of the 2022 midterm cycle:Republican governors are standing up to Trump. And winning.David Perdue, a wealthy former senator recruited by Mr. Trump to challenge Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, told reporters in the race’s final days that despite his poor standing in polls, “I guaran-damn-tee you we’re not down 30 points.”Mr. Perdue was correct. He lost by about 50 percentage points.Mr. Kemp easily swatted away Mr. Perdue’s lackluster bid, shoring up local support and rallying fellow Republican governors to his side. By the campaign’s final weeks, Mr. Perdue had pulled back on television advertising — usually a telltale sign of a doomed candidacy.And even though Mr. Trump had transferred more than $2.5 million to Mr. Perdue from his political operation, it wasn’t enough. Mr. Perdue’s own allies were openly critical of his halfhearted efforts on the stump, as well his inability to move beyond false claims about the 2020 election.Republican governors were quick to cast Mr. Kemp’s resounding victory as a rejection of Mr. Trump. Minutes after Mr. Perdue conceded, Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor and a sometime Trump ally, praised Georgia voters for refusing to be “willing participants in the DJT Vendetta Tour.”Mr. Perdue’s performance suggests that Mr. Trump’s endorsement can be “poison,” said Jon Gray, a Republican political consultant in Alabama, by giving candidates a false sense of complacency.David Perdue at a campaign event in Plainville, Ga., last week. By the race’s final weeks, he had pulled back on television advertising. Nicole Craine for The New York TimesMr. Trump’s involvement can also skew an entire primary contest to the right, as it did in Alabama and Georgia. Mr. Kemp now faces a rematch in the general election against Stacey Abrams, an experienced and well-funded Democrat he defeated by fewer than 55,000 votes in 2018.So far, Mr. Trump’s record in primaries that are actually contested is more mixed than his overall win-loss score suggests.His favored Senate candidates won the Republican nomination in Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio, but struggled in Alabama and Pennsylvania.In governor’s races, he endorsed Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his first White House press secretary, who won by a commanding margin in Arkansas, where she is political royalty. Mr. Trump was occasionally critical of Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama, who nevertheless managed to avoid a runoff in her primary.But he also unsuccessfully opposed Republican incumbents in Georgia and Idaho, while his choice for governor of Nebraska, Charles Herbster, lost by nearly four percentage points this month to Jim Pillen, the favorite of the local establishment.“It’s silly to obsess over individual endorsements and what they mean,” said Sarah Longwell, a Republican consultant who is working against many of Mr. Trump’s candidates across the country, “when the whole field has gone Trumpy.”‘Stop the Steal’ is often a political loser. But not always.Candidates who made Mr. Trump’s narrative of a stolen election the centerpiece of their campaigns fared badly. But those who embraced it only partially did just fine.In the Republican primary for Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger won an outright victory over Representative Jody Hice, whose wholesale embrace of Mr. Trump’s conspiracy-mongering about the 2020 election was not enough to force a runoff.The incumbent in the Republican primary for attorney general, Chris Carr, brushed off a feeble challenge from John Gordon, a lawyer who had represented Mr. Trump’s bogus election-fraud claims in court. Mr. Raffensperger may have had help from Democrats, thousands of whom reportedly crossed over to vote on the Republican side.“Not buckling under the pressure is what the people want,” Mr. Raffensperger said on Tuesday night at his election watch party.That said, few Republican candidates who have forthrightly denounced Mr. Trump’s lies about 2020 have survived elsewhere.In Ohio, the one Senate candidate who did so, Matt Dolan, finished in third place. In Pennsylvania, the Republican nominee for governor, Doug Mastriano, was deeply involved in Mr. Trump’s plot to overturn the state’s 2020 results, while the two leading Senate candidates, Dr. Mehmet Oz and David McCormick, have equivocated about whether Mr. Biden was fairly elected.Representative Mo Brooks, an erratic, hard-right congressman who was once one of Mr. Trump’s staunchest supporters in Congress, gained notoriety for wearing body armor to the “Stop the Steal” rally on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021.But Mr. Brooks came in second place in the Republican primary for Senate in Alabama to Katie Britt, who ran a campaign tightly focused on local issues and will now face Mr. Brooks in a runoff election next month. Even so, Ms. Britt told reporters she would have objected to the 2020 election results had she been in office at the time.Mr. Brooks attacked her anyway on Tuesday night. “Alabama, your choice is Katie Britt, who hid in her foxhole when a voter fraud fight was brought,” he said, or himself, “who led the fight against voter fraud in the U.S. Congress.”Pro-business Republicans can still win a big race. Maybe.Ms. Britt’s first-place finish in Alabama is a reminder that Mr. Trump’s endorsement is not all-powerful. But it’s also a testament to the enduring political clout of corporate America.Understand the 2022 Midterm ElectionsCard 1 of 6Why are these midterms so important? More

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      Who won, who lost and what was too close to call on Tuesday.

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      Ever since former President Donald J. Trump lost in the state of Georgia during the 2020 presidential election, he has sought revenge against the Republican incumbents there whom he blamed for not helping him overturn the results. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump lost in Georgia again, with his endorsed candidates losing in their Republican primaries for governor, secretary of state and attorney general.But those weren’t the only races that voters decided on Tuesday. Here is a rundown of the winners and losers in some of the most important contests in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas:Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, won his primary despite Mr. Trump’s best efforts against him.The Georgia governor who stood up to Mr. Trump, Brian Kemp, easily defeated a Trump-backed challenger. Mr. Kemp will face Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee, whom he narrowly defeated four years ago.Chris Carr, Georgia’s attorney general, also defeated his Trump-backed challenger, John Gordon, to win the Republican nomination for that office. Mr. Gordon had embraced Mr. Trump’s election lie and made that a key part of his appeal to voters. Herschel Walker, the former football star and a Trump-backed candidate to represent Georgia in the Senate, defeated a crowded field of Republican rivals. In Georgia, one House Democrat beat another House Democrat in a primary orchestrated by Republicans. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene won the Republican primary for her House district in Georgia.In Texas, a scandal-scarred attorney general defeated a challenger named Bush. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former White House press secretary under Mr. Trump and the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, won the Republican nomination for governor of Arkansas.Representative Mo Brooks made it into an Alabama Senate runoff after Mr. Trump pulled back his endorsement.In Texas, a Democratic House runoff between Representative Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who opposes abortion rights, and his progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros, an immigration attorney, was too close to call. (Results are being updated in real time here). More

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      Five key takeaways: the US midterm elections

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      Five key takeaways: the US midterm electionsRaces from Georgia to Texas were a litmus test of Donald Trump’s hold on the Republican party with some significant losses Blow to Donald Trump as a political kingmakerBrian Kemp, the Republican governor of Georgia, defeated former Senator David Perdue, who had been endorsed by Donald Trump. Perdue’s loss marked a significant defeat for Trump’s reputation as a kingmaker in the Republican party, as the former president has used the power of his endorsement to wield influence over candidates and lawmakers.Perdue’s defeat raises questions about the impact of Trump’s endorsement, particularly for candidates challenging incumbents. In November, Kemp will face off against voting rights leader Stacey Abrams, who won the uncontested race for the Democratic nomination.Key race for Georgia secretary of state signals defeat for ‘big lie’ candidateBrad Raffensperger defeats Trump’s effort to oust him as Georgia’s top election officialRead moreBrad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state who attracted Trump’s ire for refusing to “find” enough votes to reverse Biden’s 2020 victory in the state, is projected to win the Republican primary for his position. Raffensperger is above 50% in his race against Trump-backed candidate Jody Hice, who has embraced the former president’s lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election, and is expected to avoid a runoff and advance to the November general election.But Trump acolytes performed better in Arkansas and TexasBut Trump acolytes performed better in Arkansas and Texas. Trump’s former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Arkansas, meaning she will likely follow in her father’s footsteps to become governor. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, who filed a lawsuit challenging the results of the 2020 election, also easily defeated land commissioner George P Bush in his runoff race. Bush’s loss will have long-lasting repercussions for a political dynasty that has produced two presidents and helped shape Texas for several decades.Elementary school shooting casts pall over the nightA shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, cast a devastating shadow over Tuesday’s primaries. At least 19 children and two adults were killed when a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary school. Joe Biden expressed outrage over the tragedy, calling on Congress to pass stricter gun laws. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?” Biden said.Lucy McBath, who is the Democratic winner in Georgia’s seventh congressional district, said she has been forced to deliver a very different victory speech than she had planned.“Because just hours ago, we paid for the weapons of war on our streets again with the blood of little children sitting in our schools,” said the representative, who entered politics after her son was shot and killed in 2012. “We cannot be the only nation where one party sits on their hands as children are forced to cover their faces in fear. We are exhausted.”Democratic races also hold interestCongresswoman Lucy McBath defeated fellow House Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux to win the nomination in Georgia’s seventh congressional district. McBath currently represents the sixth congressional district, but she chose to run in the neighboring seventh district after Republican redistricting altered the state’s congressional map. McBath’s victory had particular resonance in the wake of the Uvalde shooting. Since her son’s death, McBath has staunchly advocated for stricter gun laws in honor of his legacy.A winner has still not yet been called in the closely watched runoff race between Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar and Jessica Cisneros in Texas’ 28th congressional district, which pitted a longtime centrist incumbent against a progressive challenger. Progressive groups had rallied around Cisneros, attacking Cuellar over his opposition to abortion rights as the country prepares for the likely reversal of Roe v Wade. But organizations backing Cuellar had spent heavily to help the vulnerable incumbent, and he currently leads Cisneros.TopicsUS midterm elections 2022US politicsRepublicansGeorgiaArkansasTexasDemocratsnewsReuse this content More