Georgia State Representative Bee Nguyen (D-89) secured the Democratic nomination for secretary of state and Attorney Charlie Bailey won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in the June 21 runoff election. Along with these races, Georgia voters nominated candidates for other positions, including labor commissioner and insurance commissioner. Polls closed at 7 p.m.
Races advanced to a runoff if no candidate received over 50% of the vote in the May 24 primary election. Key issues for the candidates involved in the runoff include voting rights and dialogue surrounding the baseless voter fraud claims during the 2020 presidential election. The Democratic and Republican winners from the primary and primary runoff elections will compete in the general election on November 8.
(Lin Yu/Staff)
Secretary of state
Nguyen defeated former Georgia State Representative Dee Dawkins-Haigler (D-91) in the runoff. Nguyen earned 76.9% of votes and Dawkins-Haigler amassed 23.1% of votes as of June 22 at 12:10 a.m. Nguyen will face Republican incumbent Brad Raffensberger in the general election.
“I want to thank the other Democrats in this race,” Nguyen said. “Each candidate stood up to protect our right to vote, and each candidate had innovative policy initiatives and a commitment to all Georgians. Georgia is a better state because of their service.”
As secretary of state, Nguyen wants to improve voter education resources, such as through developing a text messaging alert system and translating election materials. She also wants to strengthen consumer protection through compiling a public list of charities and securities known for fraudulent activity.
Raffensperger has advocated for election integrity measures, like photo ID requirements and a statewide audit of Georgia’s voting system. He was also a witness for the Jan. 6 Capital riot hearing on June 21, detailing Trump’s false statements about Georgia voters, such as that dead or underage individuals voted in the 2020 presidential election.
Lieutenant governor
Bailey beat former member of the U.S. House of Representatives Kwanza Hall (D-5), who completed the late civil rights icon and congressman John Lewis’ term, in the Democratic lieutenant governor race. While Bailey garnered 63% of the vote, Hall received 37% as of June 22 at 12:10 a.m.
Bailey previously ran for attorney general in 2018, but lost to Republican opponent Chris Carr. In addition to raising salaries for law enforcement officers and teachers, Bailey supports allocating more funds to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to aid in the processing of backlogged sexual assautlt kits.
Georgia State Senator Burt Jones (R-25) won the Republican nomination in the May 24 election, and will face Bailey in November. Former U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed Jones after he supported the former president’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was a “scam.” Jones advocates for banning critical race theory, increasing vocational and technical education to expand the workforce and improving retirement benefits for law enforcement.
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