Georgia primary election: Here are the key races to watch today

WSBTV.com News Staff
·4 min read
1
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Georgia voters headed to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the primary election with nearly 300 federal, state and county races.

The polls officially open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. You can find your polling location and times here.

Channel 2 Action News will have LIVE election coverage throughout the day. Check back for results as they come in on WSBTV.com and the free WSB-TV news app.

Here are the key races to watch on Tuesday and who’s running on the Democrat, Republican and Non-Partisan tickets. Note that some races feature candidates only from one party.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY

Fulton County

Democrat: Fani Willis (incumbent), Christian Wise Smith -- PROJECTED WINNER

Republican: Courtney Kramer

Gwinnett County

Democrat: Andrea Alabi, Patsy Austin-Gatson (incumbent), Daryl Manns

SHERIFF

Clayton County Sheriff

Democrat: Levon Allen (incumbent), Clarence Cox, Jeffrey Turner, Charlene Watson-Fraser.

Cobb County

Democrat: Gregory Gilstrap, Craig Owens Sr. (incumbent)

Republican: David Cavender, Antanay Hogan, Ricci Mason

Fulton County Sheriff

Democrat: Kirt Beasley, James “JT” Brown, Joyce Farmer, Patrick Labat (incumbent)

Gwinnett County

Democrat: Curtis Clemons, Shurron Green, Joseph Mark, Keybo Taylor (incumbent), Brian Whiteside

Republican: Mike Baker, Baron Reinhold, Oladipupo Soyomokun

Henry County

Democrats: Willie Brown, Cornell Madison Jr., Reginald B. Scandrett (incumbent). Walter Woolfork’s name will be on the ballot for Henry County Democrats on Tuesday, but the votes for him will not count after he was disqualified over a paperwork issue.

Non-partisan: Curtis Steven Farmer, Adrian Washington

Republican: John Lee Redlinger

CONGRESSIONAL RACES

Voters will be picking candidates in all of Georgia’s 14 congressional districts.

Rep. Drew Ferguson, who represents Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District, is not running for re-election, which means his seat is up for grabs. There are two Democrats and six Republicans running in the race for Ferguson’s seat.

Districts 6 and 7 will also be ones to watch both districts were impacted by the new Congressional maps that were drawn up earlier this year.

District 6, currently held by Republican Rep. Rich McCormick, will shift to a Democrat-leaning district. District 7, currently held by Democrat Rep. Lucy McBath, will shift to a Republican-leaning district.

McBath is running in District 6 against two challengers Jerica Richardson and Mandisha Ann-Marie Thomas on the Democratic ticket. Jeff Criswell is the only candidate on the Republican primary.

  • UPDATE: McBath projected by the Associated Press to be the winner.

McCormick will run unopposed in the Republican primary in District 7 with Bob Christian running as Democratic candidate.

Incumbent Rep. David Scott will have six challengers against him in the Democratic primary for District 13 while two candidates are running on the Republican side.

  • UPDATE: Rep. Scott projected by the Associated Press to be the winner.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will run unopposed in the Republican primary while four candidates are vying to become her Democratic challenger in the November general election.

Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk is the only other incumbent who faces a primary challenge. Retired banker and longtime Republican activist Lori Marie Pesta and retired airline pilot Mike Pons are running against Loudermilk in the 11th Congressional District northwest of Atlanta. Antonio Daza and Kate Stamper are seeking the Democratic nomination.

  • UPDATE: Rep. Loudermilk is projected by the Associated Press to be the winner.

Democrats are also choosing nominees to challenge Republican incumbents in south and middle Georgia’s 8th District, northeast Georgia’s 10th District and in the 12th District around Augusta.

GEORGIA SUPREME COURT

One of the most closely watched races is the one between Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson and John Barrow, a former Democratic congressman.

  • UPDATE: Pinson is the projected winner, according to the Associated Press.

Barrow has been positioning himself as fighting for women’s rights as the Georgia Supreme Court continues to decide whether the state’s heartbeat abortion law is constitutional.

The law says a woman can’t have an abortion once a heartbeat is detected in the fetus, which generally happens around six weeks of gestation. Many opponents of the law say women generally don’t know they are even pregnant at six weeks.

Barrow says he believes Georgians have a right to abortion under the state constitution, while Pinson says it’s inappropriate for him to talk about issues and important not to make the race partisan.

Kemp and other conservatives intervened to aid Pinson. Barrow unsuccessfully sued in federal court, saying a state judicial agency was violating his free-speech rights when the agency warned Barrow his discussion of abortion might be violating judicial ethics.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]