We Did it: The winners we know from Tuesday night — Georgia plagued by voting problems

Jun 10, 2020

Presented by We Can Vote

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Quick Fix

— Vote-counting stretched long into the night for Tuesday's primaries, and some of the top races remain unresolved.

— Some voters in Georgia and Nevada faced extremely long lines, the latest pandemic-era elections in swing states plagued by serious administration problems.

— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) made endorsements in a handful of competitive congressional primaries, endorsing against Democratic Party favorites or incumbents.

A message from We Can Vote:

Are you concerned about finding the safest way to vote in your community? Developed in partnership with public health officials and election administrators, check out the Healthy Voting guide for your state and make your #HealthyVoting plan today! Learn more: www.healthyvoting.org

Good Wednesday morning. Email me at zmontellaro@politico.com, or follow me on Twitter at @ZachMontellaro.

Email the rest of the Campaign Pro team at sshepard@politico.com, jarkin@politico.com and amutnick@politico.com. Follow them on Twitter: @POLITICO_Steve, @JamesArkin and @allymutnick.

Days until the Kentucky, New York and Virginia primaries and Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina primary runoffs: 13

Days until the Democratic convention: 68

Days until the Republican convention: 76

Days until the 2020 election: 146

TopLine

ABOUT LAST NIGHT — It was a very, very late night on Tuesday, and we still don't know who won some of the competitive races. That's in part because of widespread problems with long lines for voters who wanted to — or had to — vote in-person, and the windfall of absentee ballots that election workers had to process (more on that below). But we do have some winners, and the entire Campaign Pro team has a recap of the night here.

Georgia: Democrat Jon Ossoff is teetering on that line between winning the nomination to face GOP Sen. David Perdue outright, or having to slug it out in a runoff. Teresa Tomlinson and Sarah Riggs Amico are battling it out for a distant second, with both hoping that Ossoff doesn't cross that 50 percent mark.

In GA-06, there will be a rematch between freshman Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath and former GOP Rep. Karen Handel. In the open battleground GA-07, Republican Rich McCormick won his primary outright. Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux is headed to a runoff against Brenda Romero, who finished a distant second.

Both Republican primaries in open, red seats are headed to runoffs. In GA-09, Republican Matt Gurtler and Andrew Clyde will face off. In GA-14, Marjorie Taylor Greene and John Cowan will go head-to-head.

Surprisingly, longtime Democratic Rep. David Scott is headed to a runoff in GA-13. He'll face former state Rep. Keisha Waites, who only reported raising $875 to the FEC.

Nevada: The first results were finally reported by The Associated Press shortly after 5 a.m. Eastern Time. While neither race was called as of nearly 6 a.m., attorney Dan Rodimer led the GOP field to face Democratic Rep. Susie Lee in NV-03, while former state Assemblyman Jim Marchant was ahead in the Republican primary to face Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford in NV-04.

South Carolina: Republican Nancy Mace avoided a runoff in SC-01, and will now face freshman Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham in November. SC-01 is one of the best flip opportunities for Republicans, and Mace avoiding a runoff is good news for the GOP. Mace was national Republicans' favorite, and she won't have to expend any money on what could've been a costly two-week extension of the primary.

Unsurprisingly, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham easily dispatched his primary challengers and will go toe-to-toe with Democrat Jaime Harrison in the general election. Harrison had no primary opponents.

West Virginia: Republican Gov. Jim Justice cruised through his primary challenge in the state, with Republican voters embracing the former Democrat. He'll face off against Democrat Ben Salango, a Kanawha County commissioner.

For the Senate race, Democrat Paula Jean Swearengin won the primary — beating a field that included Richard Ojeda — but incumbent Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is the heavy, heavy favorite in November.

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Presidential Big Board

THE PROCESS — Georgia's election was a disaster yesterday, with some voters across the state — but especially those in and around Atlanta — reporting exceedingly long lines, with materials not showing up at some polling places and technical problems at others. "It's a hot, flaming, f---ing mess," Nse Ufot, executive director of New Georgia Project (which mobilizes young voters of color), told me and Laura Barrón-López. Counties across the state kept polls open for hours after seeking court orders, and a blame game for who was responsible for the problems bounced back-and-forth between Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and county officials. "We have got to stop making voting a traumatic damn experience for black voters. Everything has to be a traumatic experience," LaTosha Brown, a co-founder of Black Voters Matter, said. (Our full story has more details on the back-and-forth as well.)

— Georgia's problems definitely absorbed a lion's share of the attention. But for Nevada voters who chose to vote in person, they also faced long lines. "Some did it because they had lost or damaged their ballot, and others because they still needed to register to vote," The Nevada Independent's Savanna Strott and Kristyn Leonard reported. (A big difference between the two states: Georgia mailed voters an absentee ballot request form, and Nevada mailed active voters a ballot.) Some South Carolina voters also had similar problems, The Post and Courier's Seanna Adcox reported.

THE HAWKEYE STATE — Iowa voted big for President Donald Trump in 2016. But now, even the Hawkeye State may be coming online for Joe Biden. "Since the start of the year, Democrats in Iowa have added about twice as many active voters to their rolls as Republicans, nudging ahead in total registration for the first time in years. The farm economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic," POLITICO's David Siders wrote. Trump is also "now airing TV advertisements there – a tacit acknowledgment that the campaign anticipates a contest."

— A new Iowa poll has a tight race in the state. The poll, from the liberal pollster Civiqs for the progressive blog Daily Kos has the presidential race dead-even, with 46 percent each for Trump and Biden (865 registered voters; June 6-8; +/- 3.7 percentage point MOE).

VEEPSTAKES — A straw poll of the members of Indivisible, the progressive grassroots group, found Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to be the runaway favorite to be Biden's vice presidential pick. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is second and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams is third.

— A virtual Biden fundraiser hosted by Harris and California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis raised $3.5 million, per pooler Matt Viser of The Washington Post.

THE CASH DASH — Trump's first in-person fundraising event on Thursday is on track to raise at least $10 million, CNBC's Brian Schwartz reported.

Down the Ballot

THE MOVEMENT — Sanders is cutting against Democratic Party favorites in several downballot races. Sanders endorsed two challengers to House incumbents, backing Jamaal Bowman (who is challenging Rep. Eliot Engel in NY-16) and Cori Bush (who is challenging Rep. Lacy Clay in MO-01). In the battleground TX-10, he supported Mike Siegel (who still has a primary runoff) and backed candidates in two open seat races: Samelys Lopez in NY-15, Mondaire Jones in NY-17. Lastly, he backed Charles Booker, who is running against the DSCC-endorsed Amy McGrath in Kentucky for the right to face Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Booker also launched his first TV spot of the campaign. "Kentucky needs a real Democrat to take on Mitch McConnell. Someone who will fight to guarantee health care and living wages for all, and not help Trump just get his way," Booker says in the ad, a reference to McGrath. The ad is backed by $400,000 buy, the campaign says. To wrap up the good day for Booker, he also picked up the endorsement of the Lexington Herald-Leader's editorial board.

— Awkward: Engel's website says Senate Minority Leader (and fellow New Yorker) Chuck Schumer endorsed him. But at a press conference, Schumer said he hasn't "endorsed in that race" and that he's "busy with Senate races," per POLITICO's Marianne LeVine.

THE SENATE MAP — The exploratory committee of Republican Corky Messner, who is running for the Senate in New Hampshire, had its roots in Colorado, where Messner lived before he moved to The Granite State, WMUR's John DiStaso reported. Messner said in an interview with DiStaso that the exploratory committee "was created by volunteers that work in the law firm."

POLL POSITION — The Iowa Civiqs poll also has a tight Senate race. Democrat Theresa Greenfield at 48 percent to 45 percent for GOP Sen. Joni Ernst (865 registered voters; June 6-8; +/- 3.7 percentage point MOE).

— An internal poll for former Attorney General Jeff Sessions shows him trailing Trump-endorsed Tommy Tuberville in the Alabama Senate primary runoff. The poll, conducted by OnMessage and obtained by the Alabama Daily News' Todd Stacy, has Tuberville at 49 percent to 43 percent (600 likely GOP primary voters; May 26-27; +/- 3.5 percentage point MOE).

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THE DEBATE STAGE — Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Andrew Romanoff met for their first Democratic Senate primary debate, where Romanoff called on Hickenlooper to drop out after the state ethics commission found that the former governor violated the state's gift laws, Colorado Politics' Joey Bunch reported. (Hickenlooper, unsurprisingly, did not take him up on that.) Another debate will air tonight, with a third on June 16.

ON THE AIRWAVES — Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) is up with his first ad of the cycle, which features Trump praising the party-switching freshman representative from a rally. It ends with the tagline: "Return your vote by mail ballot today."

— Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is out with another TV ad. The ad is a positive bio spot talking about his upbringing: "I grew up with strong parents and humble people in humble places, and I take a little humility to the U.S. Senate."

— The National Republican Senatorial Committee released new ads attacking Democrats Mark Kelly in Arizona and Greenfield in Iowa. In Arizona, the NRSC ad tied Kelly to China, the same theme as the committee's first ad in the state. In Iowa, the committee's first ad against Greenfield focused on her real estate company.

— Women Vote!, the independent expenditure arm of EMILY's List, released a new ad in Iowa attacking Ernst on health care and pre-existing conditions coverage.

— Kansas Rep. Roger Marshall, who is running for Senate, released a new ad going negative against another Republican candidate in the race, businessman Bob Hamilton, by portraying him as a phony Republican.

ENDORSEMENT CORNER — Susan B. Anthony List's Candidate Fund PAC, an anti-abortion group, announced it was backing Renee Swann over former Rep. Pete Sessions in the GOP primary runoff in the safe red TX-17.

STAFFING UP — MoveOn, the long-running liberal group, has named Nita Chaudhary as its chief of program.

CODA — PANDEMIC LEGISLATING OF THE DAY: The 400-member New Hampshire state House will meet at the University of New Hampshire ice arena for its next in-person session, per the AP.

A message from We Can Vote:

Do you have a Healthy Voting Plan? Millions of Americans are looking for healthy ways to vote safely & securely during the coronavirus pandemic. That's why we've partnered with public health officials and election administrators to develop a simple guide with all the information you need to make Healthy Voting a priority for you and your community! It's filled with practical information and helpful tips on best practices and the safest ways to cast your ballot in 2020. Check out the Healthy Voting guide for your state and make your Healthy Voting plan today! Learn more: www.healthyvoting.org