The Midterm Report: A rematch in Georgia and a disgraced Republican frontrunner in Missouri
(Photo credit: Mirah Curzer, Unsplash)
With all eyes on Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it’s easy to forget that the 2022 midterm elections are just over the horizon. With candidates challenging incumbents in the primaries and voter restriction legislation being pushed by Republicans, there’s plenty to keep an eye out for in the U.S. electoral scene.
Last week saw the field grow in what’s expected to be one of, if not the, battleground state going into the fall. After narrowly flipping two senate seats, Democrats will need to organize a campaign that reinvigorates voters in the state, but this time without a Republican president alienating his base in the wake of losing his one-term post. Georgia voters are ten weeks away from the May 24 party primaries, with the positions of governor and U.S. senator at the top of the ticket.
So far, Stacey Abrams is the only Democrat registered for her rematch against Republican Governor Brian Kemp. This time, though, Kemp doesn’t have the luxury of also overseeing the elections, as he did in his role as Georgia Secretary of State in 2018. Abrams, a voting rights advocate who's been credited with boosting voter turnout in Georgia, lost to Kemp by less than 55,000 votes in the closest governor’s race in the state since 1966. After her loss, Abrams suspended her campaign but did not concede, refusing to call the election legitimate before going on to call the election “stolen from the voters of Georgia.”