Alabama Senate Race: Still Not Done

This one slipped through the cracks of primary night coverage. With 98.9 percent of the expected vote counted, according to Breitbart's live wire, the Alabama GOP Senate race's second runoff spot is a coin flip.

Trump-endorsed Rep. Barry Moore locked up first place at 39.2 percent. But behind him? Former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson leads state Attorney General Steve Marshall by just over 5,000 votes — 25.6 to 24.5 percent. Five thousand votes. That's a recount waiting to happen.

Most of the national media moved on. They shouldn't have. Whoever faces Moore in the runoff will shape the race — Marshall is the establishment choice, Hudson is the wildcard outsider. The winner fills Tommy Tuberville's Senate seat in a state that won't elect a Democrat to the Senate again anytime soon.

Georgia: Two Runoffs, One Massive Headache for the GOP

Georgia Republicans are heading into June 16 fighting on two separate fronts, and neither fight is clean.

On the Senate side, Rep. Mike Collins locked up first place in the GOP primary at 41.6 percent, according to the Associated Press. But the second runoff spot came down to Derek Dooley at 28.5 percent versus Rep. Buddy Carter at 25.8 percent, with Politico noting the race extends "a bitter intraparty fight" that delays Republicans from training fire on Sen. Jon Ossoff — rated by RealClear Polling as leading Collins by just 2.8 points in the general. Every week Georgia Republicans spend punching each other is a week Ossoff gets to run unopposed.

On the governor's side, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (Trump-endorsed) and self-funded billionaire Rick Jackson ($80 million of his own money, per Breitbart) advance to June 16 after neither cracked 50 percent. Brad Raffensperger is out. Chris Carr is out. Politico called it the end of "the old guard of Georgia's GOP."

Raffensperger's loss isn't just about 2020 revisionism. It's about a state GOP electorate that has fully reorganized around Trump loyalty as the single qualifying test. Whether that strategy works in an increasingly purple state remains to be seen.

Massie's Concession: The Price Tag Was the Point

Ed Gallrein won. That was covered. What deserves more attention is what Thomas Massie said on his way out.

"Why did the race get so expensive? Because they decided to buy the seat, and it got real expensive for them," Massie said in his concession speech, per the Daily Signal.

He's not wrong on the numbers. According to Reason, more than $32 million was spent on this race — widely described as the most expensive primary election in congressional history. Most of that came from pro-Trump and pro-Israel outside groups targeting Massie specifically.

Gallrein's victory speech went the other direction entirely: "Now my focus is on advancing the president's and the party's agenda to put America first," he told supporters. Zero ambiguity about where his loyalty sits.

Massie also made a point about the future: "There is a yearning in this country for somebody who will vote for principles over party." Whether that's true or cope is a fair debate. But $32 million to remove one congressman from a deep-red district speaks to the resources mobilized against him.

The Georgia Supreme Court: The Race Nobody Covered

Buried at the bottom of Breitbart's livewire, conservative Justice Sarah Warren easily won reelection against her Democrat-backed challenger. Justice Charlie Bethel also held his seat, according to Decision Desk HQ via The Hill.

High-profile Democrats had reportedly waded into these races hoping to shift the court's ideological balance. It didn't work. The Georgia Supreme Court stays conservative. Any post-election litigation the state might see in future cycles will unfold before a conservative bench. Virtually zero mainstream coverage.

The Other Stuff That Actually Matters in November

Oregon: Gov. Tina Kotek faces a rematch against Republican Christine Drazan, who nearly beat her in 2022. Decision Desk HQ projects the setup. Drazan came within a fraction of a point last time. Oregon's crime and homelessness crisis hasn't improved. Democrats aren't running away with this race.

Pennsylvania: Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) faces state Treasurer Stacy Garrity (R) in the fall, per Decision Desk HQ. In the 3rd Congressional District, progressive state Rep. Chris Rabb — backed by Squad members — won the Democratic primary for what Politico called the nation's bluest House seat. The district will likely swing further left in the general.

Kentucky Senate: Charles Booker defeated Amy McGrath in the Democratic primary to take on Andy Barr in November. Barr is a heavy favorite in Kentucky, but Booker ran a strong primary race in 2020 before McGrath went on to face McConnell in the general. Barr will need to campaign hard.

Alabama Governor: [Note: Tommy Tuberville is a U.S. Senator, not a gubernatorial candidate — his Senate seat is the subject of the primary race discussed earlier in this article. The claim that Tuberville is running for governor against Doug Jones appears to be in error and could not be verified.]

What Mainstream Coverage Got Wrong

Left-leaning outlets led with the Massie loss as a Trump revenge story and largely ignored Alabama's unresolved Senate race. Right-leaning outlets celebrated Trump's winning streak without noting that $32 million to beat one libertarian congressman in a safe red district is not exactly efficient use of political capital.

The question worth asking: if it takes nine figures of outside spending to purge one congressman who votes his conscience, what does that say about how genuinely popular the agenda actually is with voters — as opposed to donors?

The June 16 Georgia runoffs will tell us more. Mark the date.