Tuesday is primary runoff Election Day in Georgia, and there are a large number of races on the ballot for voters to weigh in on.
Yes, that includes two top-of-the-ticket primary runoffs for governor and U.S. Senate, as well as battles for the nomination for other critical positions like lieutenant governor, secretary of state and school superintendent.
That’s not to mention the runoffs for U.S. House, Georgia House and Georgia Senate. Plus a contentious local election.
Polls will close statewide at 7 p.m. Counties will then release results from mail and early in-person votes shortly after that. Results will continue rolling in throughout the night.
Here are five things to watch.
Can political outsiders Dooley and Jackson beat lawmakers Collins and Jones?
Former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley and billionaire Rick Jackson’s jobs got a lot harder in the last few days.
That’s after President Donald Trump issued a last-minute endorsement of U.S. Rep. Mike Collins in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, and Gov. Brian Kemp did the same for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the GOP primary for governor.
But Dooley and Jackson each have something their opponents don’t.
Dooley has the strong backing of Kemp, who has campaigned hard for him instead of Collins since last fall.
And Jackson has way more money to burn than Jones does. While Jones has poured tens of millions of dollars into his campaign, Jackson has spent more than $100 million to win the nomination.
The winner of the Collins-Dooley matchup will face Sen. Jon Ossoff in November, while the winner of the Jackson-Jones slugfest will face former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in the race to be Georgia’s next governor.
Will Republicans coalesce around the winners of these two races, no matter the outcome?
It’s hard to tell.
Jackson supporters said Monday they were surprised, shocked and confused by Kemp’s decision to endorse Jones. As for Jackson himself, he was not critical of Kemp when asked about the endorsement.
Then throw in the fact that Trump is backing Collins and Jones. What will he do if Dooley and Jackson prevail instead?
No matter what, Republicans will need to unite quickly. Ossoff and Bottoms teamed up shortly after Bottoms won last month’s gubernatorial Democratic primary. They already held a joint rally last month in Atlanta, and they have another one happening later this month in Savannah.
Georgia Republicans will have a lot of cleaning up to do after tonight, when the clock will start on the four-and-a-half month leadup to November’s general election.
Wait, there are other important races on the ballot on Tuesday?
Sure are! Especially if you’re interested in the state’s jobs, schools, utility bills and elections.
There are Democratic and Republican primary runoffs for lieutenant governor and secretary of state, Democratic runoffs for insurance commissioner and labor commissioner, and Republican runoffs for Public Service Commission and school superintendent.
Notably, the secretary of state election will be to replace Brad Raffensperger, who famously fought Trump’s attempts to subvert the 2020 election. Trump pressured him to “find 11,800 votes” to overtake Democrat Joe Biden. Raffensperger refused.
Republicans will choose between an outright election denier, Vernon Jones, and a state lawmaker, Tim Fleming, who avoids explicitly disputing the president’s 2020 election lies.
Democrats will choose between Dana Barrett, a Fulton County commissioner, and Penny Brown Reynolds, a former state judge in Fulton County who also served in the Biden administration as deputy assistant secretary for civil rights for the Department of Agriculture.
There are also several metro Atlanta-based races for the Georgia House and Senate on the ballot, plus a bruising fight for Fulton County Commission Chair.
Visit WABE’s 2026 Georgia Midterm Election page to learn more about the candidates and find results.
Which primary runoffs for U.S. House in Georgia should people be watching?
There are four on the ballot on Tuesday: the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District in Southeast Georgia; the Democratic primary for the 7th Congressional District that stretches from the northern metro Atlanta suburbs to North Georgia; the Republican primary for the 11th Congressional District that includes parts of metro Atlanta and Northwest Georgia; and the Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District in East Georgia.
The winners of the three Democratic primaries will have very tough general elections ahead of them. Republicans won those seats by 20-30 percentage points in 2024. Those primaries still matter, especially in light of Democrats overperforming in elections across the country this year, but they will be tough hauls come November.
The winner of the GOP primary in the 11th District tonight will be the odds-on favorite to become one of the state’s newest members of Congress. The incumbent, U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, is not running for reelection.
Neurosurgeon John Cowan is up against Loudermilk’s former chief of staff Rob Adkerson in that race. The winner will face lawyer and small business owner Chris Harden. Loudermilk won the seat by 33 percentage points in 2024.
Can voters choose a different primary ballot than the one they chose last month?
No. Voters who cast a ballot in a partisan primary on May 19 may only vote in the runoff of the same party as they did in the primary. In other words, Democratic primary voters may not vote in a Republican primary runoff or vice versa. Registered voters who did not participate in a party primary on May 19 or pulled a nonpartisan ballot may vote in the runoff for either party.
The Associated Press and WABE’s Rahul Bali contributed to this report.
