For The First Time In Years, Democrats Are More Concerned About Abortion Than Republicans Are
FiveThirtyEightDec 23, 2021
GA Primaries: Kemp, Raffensperger Defeat Trump-Backed Challengers
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Image copyright: EPA [via The Guardian]
The Facts
Two high-profile candidates who challenged former Pres. Trump's claims of fraud in the 2020 election prevailed in their GOP primaries in the state of Georgia on Tuesday.
Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp defeated Trump-endorsed former Sen. David Purdue in a landslide, 73-21%.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Georgia was an unmitigated disaster for the disgraced, twice-impeached former president. The GOP base turned out to reject Trump's candidates and his discredited claims about election fraud in 2020. To top it off, Trump's own former VP Mike Pence stumped for Kemp and begged voters to move on from 2020.
Pro-Trump narrative
The mainstream media are gleefully reporting on the two primary loses in Georgia as a major setback for Trump in his role as Republican kingmaker. But they're suspiciously quiet on major victories by Trump-backed AG Ken Paxton in Texas and Sen. John Boozman in Arkansas. Trump's candidates have prevailed at a rate of more than 90% this election cycle.
Cynical narrative
Trump might not have a perfect record when it comes to backing candidates, but he's found a new source of revenue. Seven of his GOP endorsees, including several from GA, spent more than $400K combined this election cycle at his private club Mar-a-Lago, where Purdue and others posed for photos to raise campaign funds without a guarantee their groveling would pay off.
