Trump-backed Republicans lead Tuesday Primary Results in Georgia, Kentucky

Tuesday primary results showed Republicans backed by President Trump winning or leading in Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky. In Kentucky, Representative Thomas Massie lost to Ed Gallrein, and the result pushed another Trump-backed race into focus before runoff battles in Georgia and Texas.

Massie’s defeat was the sharpest setback for a Republican who had clashed with Trump. The House member had been the chamber’s most prominent G.O.P. critic of Trump, and Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL, ended his race on Tuesday.

Kentucky and Massie

Trump had endorsed Representative Andy Barr weeks earlier in Kentucky’s Senate contest, and Barr easily turned back Daniel Cameron. Cameron is a former state attorney general, while Nate Morris was backed by Elon Musk and was coaxed out of the race with a promise of being appointed an ambassador.

Massie’s loss came in a race described as the most expensive House primary in recent history. He had opposed Trump on the war with Iran and the Epstein files, and the primary result closed off one of the clearest examples of resistance to the president inside the Republican House ranks.

Georgia Senate runoff

In Georgia, Representative Mike Collins placed first in the Senate primary but fell short of 50 percent of the vote. He now faces a runoff next month against Derek Dooley, a former college football coach, after Buddy Carter finished third in the race.

Whoever emerges from that Republican runoff will face Senator Jon Ossoff, a first-term Democrat who had $32.5 million in his campaign account at the end of April. Trump did not endorse a candidate in Georgia’s marquee Republican Senate primary, leaving Collins to advance without that edge in the first round.

In Texas, Trump’s endorsement of Ken Paxton was viewed as a blow to Senator John Cornyn’s chances of retaining his seat ahead of a runoff election next week. Paxton’s showing added another test of Trump’s influence, while Cornyn remained without the endorsement that might have changed the race’s shape.