Voters in Georgia are about to cast their votes in downballot primaries, while voters in Texas will cast their ballots in several primary runoffs. Washington will also hold its Democratic presidential primary, though there are no delegates actually at stake. Georgia will hold July runoffs in any contests where no one takes a majority of the vote. Below is our look at what to watch:
● GA-03 (R): Seven Republicans are competing in this safely red open seat. The big three to watch are state Sen. Mike Crane, West Point Mayor Drew Ferguson, and self-funding businessman Jim Pace.
● GA-09 (R): Republican Rep. Doug Collins faces a primary challenge from ex-Rep. Paul Broun and three other opponents in this safely red seat.
● GA-11 (R): Freshman Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk faces a challenge from wealthy businessman Daniel Cowan and three other opponents in this safely red seat.
● TX-15 (D): The Democratic runoff for this safely blue seat pits wealthy attorney Vicente Gonzalez against Edinburg School Board member Juan "Sonny" Palacios Jr.
● TX-19 (R): The GOP runoff for this safely red seat pits Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson against Ex-Texas Tech Vice Chancellor Jodey Arrington, a former aide to George W. Bush.
Results: Georgia | Texas | Washington
Wednesday, May 25, 2016 · 1:51:18 AM +00:00
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David Jarman
The Associated Press has called open TX-19 (R) for Jodey Arrington; with 68 percent reporting, he leads Glen Robertson 55-45. The AP has also called GA-09 (R) for incumbent Doug Collins; he leads nutty ex-colleague Paul Broun (who used to represent GA-10, gave it up for a failed Senate bid in 2014, and carpetbagged over to the 9th this year) 62-22, with 83 percent reporting.
Races still to watch, but where the result seems pretty clear: open TX-15 (D), where Vicente Gonzalez leads Sonny Palacios 74-26 with 25 percent reporting, and GA-11 (R), where incumbent Barry Loudermilk leads Daniel Cowan 61-18 with 50 percent reporting. The real (only) excitement is in GA-03 (R), where it’s Drew Ferguson at 30, Mike Crane at 25, and Jim Pace at 20 with 46 percent reporting. The top two from that race will head to a runoff.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016 · 3:17:30 AM +00:00
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David Jarman
The beauty contest primary in Washington (which has no delegates associated with it, on the Democratic side) is looking a whole lot closer than the caucus: it’s Bernie Sanders 51, Hillary Clinton 49 … in case you were looking for one more argument about how the small self-selected group of caucus-goers aren’t very representative of the larger electorate. On the GOP side, it’s Donald Trump 77, John Kasich 11, Ted Cruz 8, and Ben Carson 4.
TX-15 (D) has been called by the AP for Vicente Gonzalez, and GA-11 (R) has been called for Barry Loudermilk. GA-03 hasn’t been called, but looks like a runoff between Drew Ferguson and Mike Crane, at 27 each, with Jim Pace at 23 (with 96 percent reporting). And GA-Sen (D) is actually much closer than expected and hasn’t been called yet: rich guy Jim Barksdale, who’d been expected to win, is barely above the runoff line, leading Cheryl Copeland 53-42 (with 83 percent reporting statewide).
Wednesday, May 25, 2016 · 3:40:14 AM +00:00
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David Jarman
With 74 percent reporting, the AP has called the Washington “primary” for Hillary Clinton, at 54-46. (The historic pattern in Washington is that as the count continues after the first night, the votes tend to break in favor of the more progressive candidate, as young Seattle voters are notorious for waiting until the last minute to submit their mail-in ballots. The AP hopefully knows that, though, and is anticipating that won’t overcome an 8-point spread.)