Primaries in Georgia: little suspense among Democrats, tense duel among Republicans
Polling place in the state of Georgia (Illustrative image) © AP/Brynn Anderson
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
In the United States, Georgia votes this Tuesday, May 24 to know who will represent the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in the midterm elections next November.
In 2020, this state, which is experiencing strong population growth, voted for a Democratic president for the first time in 60 years.
Can the Democrats continue to gain ground?
In November, a post of governor and a post of senator are notably at stake.
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With our special correspondent in Atlanta
,
Marie Normand
On the Democratic side, not really suspense: there is often only one name - or only one of importance - on the ballot.
That of Stacey Abrams.
This primary will above all make it possible to evaluate the mobilization of the base which had succeeded in the impossible: to have a president and two senators elected in Georgia.
One of these posts of senator, that of Pastor Warnock, very weakened, is brought into play in November.
But the Democrats must absolutely keep it to hope to keep their majority in the Senate.
Trump-Pence duel by Georgia as an intermediary
They observe with concern gaining popularity on the Republican side another African-American: the former football star Herschel Walker, recruited by Donald Trump, for whom this primary in Georgia is also a test of popularity.
His bid to oust Gov. Brian Kemp, as punishment for refusing to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential result, appears not to be working, and his primary candidate, David Perdue, is lagging behind. surveys.
Monday evening, Brian Kemp received weight support.
That of former Vice President Mike Pence, who takes the side of a frontal attack against Donald Trump.
He has also hinted that he could run against him for the Republican nomination in 2024.
Brian Kemp is receiving strong support this evening: that of former Vice President Mike Pence, present at his side at the meeting.
The latter has hinted that he could run against Trump... in 2024. #georgiaprimaries pic.twitter.com/xJaQTjF8Z4
— Marie Normand (@normandmarie) May 23, 2022
At the last meeting of outgoing Governor Brian Kemp, former Vice President Mike Pence came to give a boost to whoever is leading the polls.
His rivalry between the political sponsors of the two primary candidates is a subject carefully avoided by activists.
“
People look more at the candidates' balance sheets than at their endorsements.
Governor Kemp campaigned on tax cuts, he got the job done!
He kept all his promises of four years ago
, ”prefers to underline Martin, 25 years old.
Still in the suburbs of Atlanta, his opponent David Perdue takes advantage of a last walkabout in a café to criticize the media, shout down the
fake news
and the latest polls which show him far behind Brian Kemp.
Same rhetoric as Donald Trump, who pushed him to run but didn't make the trip to Georgia.
David Perdue's supporters all want to play the 2020 game again. “
David Perdue will defend the integrity of the election.
When we needed Governor Brian Kemp in 2020, he was an absentee and did not support what the majority of us clearly needed
,” says an activist.
For him, voting Perdue is voting against the establishment.
He specifies that he will abstain in November if his candidate loses the Republican primary.
Report by Marie Normand in Atlanta
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