Georgia Trump Pick Trails in Early Governor Count, Tim Fleming Wins Secretary of State Race

Since this runoff season began testing Trump's grip on the Republican Party, the June 16 primaries have drawn the sharpest scrutiny yet across Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, California's 14th Congressional District, and Washington D.C.

Georgia: The Main Event

With 40% of the vote counted Tuesday evening, Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate Burt Jones was trailing in the Republican primary runoff, according to The Guardian's live results. That outcome is far from final, but it represents an early warning sign for a president whose endorsements have generally proved potent in Republican primaries this cycle.

The Georgia Senate Republican primary was described as a "knife edge" in early counting, according to The Guardian. The two finalists are U.S. Representative Mike Collins and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley. Whoever wins will face Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff in November, a race that will almost certainly draw nine-figure outside spending.

The clearest result of the night in Georgia came in the secretary of state race: Tim Fleming won the Republican nomination, defeating Vernon Jones, a pro-Trump election denier, according to The Guardian. That outcome is notable precisely because Republican primary voters in Georgia chose the non-election-denier in a high-profile statewide race.

Alabama: Moore vs. Hudson

In Alabama's Republican Senate runoff, Trump-backed Barry Moore faced Jared Hudson. No call had been made by Tuesday evening. The race is a direct test of whether Trump's endorsement is enough in a state where he routinely wins by landslide margins.

Oklahoma: Hern's Senate Bid

In Oklahoma, Trump threw his early support behind Kevin Hern for the Senate seat previously held by U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin. Hern had successfully kept major challengers from entering the race, according to The Guardian. Oklahoma hasn't elected a Democratic senator since 1990, per AP News, so the Republican nominee is effectively the general election winner. The more competitive race was the crowded GOP primary to succeed outgoing Governor Kevin Stitt.

Washington D.C.: The Wildcard

The D.C. Democratic mayoral primary pits D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George against former Council member-at-large Kenyan McDuffie. Lewis George, a self-described Democratic Socialist, claimed her campaign received more individual donations from D.C. residents than any candidate in city history: 6,542 donors as of the June 10 filing, nearly 3,000 more than the previous record set by former Mayor Adrian Fenty, according to Fox News. She has raised $3.83 million total.

President Trump threatened Monday, during a press briefing from the Oval Office, that if Lewis George won, he might enact a second federal takeover of D.C., citing her positions as those of a "crazy socialist." He said, "We won't put up with it. We're not going to lose our businesses," according to Fox News. Lewis George called the threat "an attack on democracy itself."

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced last year she would not seek a fourth term. With roughly 75% of D.C. voters registered Democratic, the winner of Tuesday's primary is the heavy favorite in November.

California: Swalwell's Seat

A separate special primary was held Tuesday in California's 14th Congressional District, the seat vacated by former Representative Eric Swalwell, according to AP News. No results were available from the sources at the time of this writing.

A single night of trailing results in one Georgia gubernatorial primary does not erase a track record of endorsement success in 2026 Republican primaries. Trump's backed candidates have frequently won, and runoff electorates are small and unpredictable. Jones may close the gap as more votes are counted. The secretary of state result, where the non-Trump-aligned candidate won, cuts both ways. Republican primary voters showed independence, but Fleming's win was still within the mainstream Republican field, not a repudiation of Trump himself.

If Jones loses the Georgia governor's race outright, it will be among the most high-profile endorsement defeats of Trump's second-term political cycle, and no amount of caveating will change that.

Fox News's live coverage focused heavily on the D.C. mayoral race and Trump's federal-takeover threat, giving less attention to the Georgia results that were developing simultaneously. The Guardian's framing leaned into the "Trump pick trails" storyline even with 40% of the vote in, a point in the count where leads can evaporate quickly in either direction. AP News provided the cleanest structural summary of what races were on the ballot but had not yet called any races in its published material.

The Georgia runoff results will determine whether the Republican nominee for governor in November is Trump's chosen candidate or someone who won despite his opposition. This distinction will shape how 2026 Republican Senate and gubernatorial nominees across the country calculate the value of seeking his endorsement. The Alabama Senate result will add a second data point to the same question before the week is out.