It was a night for upsets and breakthroughs: In Georgia, a black woman was nominated for governor by a major party for the first time in any state. In Kentucky, a math teacher defeated a Republican power broker. And in Texas, the vice president faced the limits of his clout. Some of our takeaways from this week’s voting:
There’s a new map in Ga.
That Stacey Abrams, former Georgia House minority leader, captured the Democratic nomination for governor Tuesday was no surprise. But Abrams did not just defeat Stacey Evans, another onetime state legislator — she trounced her.
Abrams won over 75 percent of the vote statewide, demonstrating the cross-racial appeal of her candidacy: Vying to be the first black woman elected governor in US history, the 44-year-old lawyer piled up large margins in heavily African-American counties but, more strikingly, she performed well in largely white North Georgia.
Evans carried a handful of counties in her native region, but Abrams remained competitive in nearly all of those she lost. And in many of the counties just below the Tennessee state line that Abrams carried, she won convincingly. Abrams performed similarly well in many of Atlanta’s largely white suburbs and exurbs.
In some past Georgia Democratic primaries, black candidates performed well in African-American communities but were easily defeated by white opponents who dominated heavily white rural areas and suburbs. The question for the general election is whether Abrams can parlay her support to hold down likely losses in North Georgia and capture some of the Atlanta exurbs.
She’ll face either Lieutenatnt Governor Casey Cagle, the top Republican vote-getter Tuesday, or Secretary of State Brian Kemp; they await a July runoff.Teachers’ rebellion isn’t over
Thousands of teachers walked off the job in Kentucky this spring, part of a multistate revolt against school funding and employee benefits cuts. In Kentucky, they failed to stop a Republican-led overhaul of their pension system.
But on Tuesday night, the Republican leader in the Kentucky House, Jonathan Shell, lost his seat to a teacher who challenged him for the party’s nomination. He had been seen as a rising star and future candidate for statewide office.
Shell’s loss to R. Travis Brenda, a math teacher and first-time candidate, is a sign the uproar over public education in red states has not subsided. Other states that recently had school-funding battles have elections for governor or Senate this fall, including Arizona, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.Viral video to victory in Ky.
Amy McGrath seized the Democratic nomination for Congress in Kentucky’s 6th District, leaning hard into her profile as a military veteran, political newcomer, and woman. She toppled a popular local official, and Republicans expect her to give Representative Andy Barr, a three-term incumbent, an aggressive challenge in the fall.
Highlighting her military background with cinematic flair, a video helped McGrath raise more than $1 million. Her primary opponent, Jim Gray, mayor of Lexington, failed to match her raw momentum.
Pence flops in Texas
The vice president’s clout was tested Tuesday in Texas, where he backed Bunni Pounds, a conservative activist, in a primary for the Dallas-area House seat Jeb Hensarling is vacating. Pence stepped in at his request, endorsing Pounds after President Trump declined to get involved. Yet Pounds lost to Lance Gooden, a former legislator, after boasting repeatedly about Pence’s support.
