Tuesday’s Primaries Include Presidential Races and the Prosecutor in Trump’s Georgia Election Case

BY  JONATHAN J. COOPER

The presidential primaries that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have already clinched will move closer to their end Tuesday.

Voters in two states, Kentucky and Oregon, will get their chance to weigh in, symbolic decisions that provide a few more delegates to the national conventions and a gut check on where the Democratic and Republican bases stand toward their standard-bearers.

Even after they secured the nominations and their rivals dropped out, Biden and Trump have continued facing dissent from within their own parties. Biden has faced protest votes over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war while Trump is still seeing thousands of people voting for long-vanquished rival Nikki Haley.

After Tuesday, eight presidential nominating contests will remain: Democrats in Idaho, the District of Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands, and both parties in Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.

Voters in Kentucky, Oregon, Georgia and Idaho will also hold state primaries Tuesday to choose nominees for the U.S. House and other contests. And in California’s Central Valley, voters will select a Republican to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Republicans Vince Fong and Mike Boudreaux face off in the special runoff election to finish McCarthy’s term, and will have a rematch in November for the next full two-year term.

In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the prosecution of Trump in a 2020 election interference case, faces challenger Christian Wise Smith in the Democratic primary. Smith is an attorney and author who ran against Willis four years ago.

The judge in the case is also up for reelection. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee faces Robert Patillo, an attorney and radio host, in the nonpartisan race. McAfee is a former prosecutor who was appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022.

Oregon’s 5th Congressional District is home to one of the top Democratic primaries in the country, pitting Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a progressive candidate who ousted a moderate Democratic incumbent two years ago, against Janelle Bynum, a state lawmaker who some top Democrats believe is a stronger candidate. The winner faces first-term Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the general election, a race both parties are emphasizing.

In the Portland-based 3rd Congressional District, Democrats will pick a nominee to replace retiring Rep. Earl Blumenauer in a safe Democratic seat. The candidates include Susheela Jayapal, the sister of progressive champion U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal. Susheela Jayapal faces two other well-funded Democratic challengers, state Rep. Maxine Dexter and Gresham City Councilor Eddy Morales.

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Cooper reported from Phoenix.