ATLANTA (AP) - The Latest on Georgia’s primary elections (all times local):
11:45 p.m.
Political newcomer Jim Barksdale will face U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson in November as the Republican seeks a third term.
Top Georgia Democrats backed Barksdale, who owns an investment firm in Atlanta, for the party’s nod after a number of other candidates demurred on a challenge to the well-funded incumbent. Isakson, a staple of Georgia politics since the late 1970s, reported nearly $6 million in cash by early May.
Barksdale loaned his campaign more than $1 million to get through the primary against two other Democrats with little funding. Introductory ads, framed around a trademark cap worn by the candidate, sought to introduce the Buckhead resident statewide. Cheryl Copeland, a project manager from Hira who reported raising only $9,100 by mid-April, still gave Barksdale a close race on Tuesday.
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11:30 p.m.
Two Republicans are heading to a runoff in west Georgia to decide which candidate gets a shot at replacing GOP Rep. Lynn Westmoreland as he retired from Congress.
State Sen. Mike Crane of Newnan and former West Point Mayor Drew Ferguson finished neck-and-neck in a jam-packed field of seven Republicans. Voters will decide the GOP nominee for Westmoreland’s 3rd District in a runoff July 26.
Unofficial returns late Tuesday night showed the primary race was too close to call between Democrats Angela Pendley of Grantville and Tamarkus Cook of Newnan.
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11:05 p.m.
Metro Atlanta voters are showing forgiveness to a state lawmaker who was charged with drunken driving last month.
Despite his arrest April 7, Republican Rep. Tom Taylor of Dunwoody defeated GOP primary opponent Tom Owens of Doraville on Tuesday. No Democrat is running for Taylor’s 79th District seat in the state House.
Taylor said he made a “serious mistake” after he was charged in Rabun County. His opponent ran on the slogan “sober conservative judgment.”
A police report said Taylor’s blood-alcohol content was nearly three times over the legal limit. He had four teenage passengers.
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10:05 p.m.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk has successfully defended his seat from a crowd of Republican primary challengers.
Loudermilk of Cassville held off four GOP opponents Tuesday to win his 11th District primary race without the need for a runoff.
The primary victory advances Loudermilk to the November general election. He must defeat Democrat Don Wilson, a Marietta investment banker, to win a second term.
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9:50 p.m.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston has reclaimed his northern Georgia legislative district.
Ralston of Blue Ridge defeated fellow Republican Sam Snider of Ellijay in a primary election Tuesday. Snider had also unsuccessfully challenged the powerful House speaker at the polls two years ago.
No Democrats signed up to run for Ralston’s 7th District seat. That means Ralston should get a free pass to re-election in November.
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9:30 p.m.
Incumbent Tim Echols has defeated two Republican primary challengers seeking his seat on the state Public Service Commission.
Echols beat fellow Republicans Kellie Pollard Austin and Michelle Miller in the primary election Tuesday.
The win means Echols should coast to a second, six-year term on the utility regulating commission in November, because no Democrats signed up to run for the statewide position.
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9:20 p.m.
Rep. Doug Collins of Gainesville has overcome four Republican primary challengers.
Collins of Gainesville defeated a crowded field Tuesday that included former Georgia congressman Paul Broun, who was seeking a comeback after a failed 2014 campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Collins’ victory virtually guarantees he’ll return to Washington next year. No Democrats signed up to run for his 9th District seat.
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8:55 p.m.
Three Georgia congressmen have defeated challengers in Republican primaries.
GOP Reps. Austin Scott of Tifton, Rick Allen of Augusta and Tom Graves of Ranger each won contested primary races Tuesday.
Two other Republican House members - Reps. Doug Collins of Gainesville and Barry Loudermilk of Cassville - were leading GOP fields of four challengers apiece.
With no Democrat running for his seat, Graves’ primary victory essentially guarantees he will return to Washington next year.
Scott will face Democrat James Neal Harris of Gray in the November general election. Two Democrats - Joyce Nolin of Evans and Tricia Carpenter McCracken of Augusta - were running to challenge Allen.
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8:45 p.m.
Johnny Isakson will compete for a third term in the U.S. Senate.
The Georgia Republican won Tuesday’s primary over two long-shot challengers.
Isakson worked in real estate and served in the state legislature and U.S. House before being elected to the Senate, where he chairs two committees. Now 71, Isakson announced in June that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease but said it wouldn’t stop him from running or serving again.
Three unknown Democrats are vying to face Isakson, who has built a war chest of nearly $6 million to minimize primary Republican challengers and prepare for November. Isakson easily defeated Democratic challengers in his first two Senate bids, winning 58 percent of the vote in 2010.
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7:20 p.m.
The polls have officially closed in Georgia, where voters are deciding the fate of several Republican congressional incumbents.
Democrats are deciding between three people seeking to challenge U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson in his bid for a third term. Isakson faces two longshot primary opponents.
Georgia’s 9th and 11th Congressional districts are among the heated contests in Tuesday’s elections. Incumbent Republican congressmen Doug Collins and Barry Loudermilk each have four primary challengers.
Republicans also are closely watching the state’s 3rd Congressional District, where seven candidates are competing to replace retiring Rep. Lynn Westmoreland.
If no candidate in a race earns a majority of the votes on Tuesday, the top two go to a runoff in July.
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4 p.m.
Turnout appeared light during mid-afternoon voting in Cobb County, where the steel skeleton and giant scoreboard of the Atlanta Braves’ new stadium rises above the treetops.
The stadium, which has become a central issue in the race for Cobb County Commission chairman, is still under construction but its frame is now visible from nearby Interstate 75.
In the northeast part of the county, one voter every three to four minutes walked into the polls Tuesday afternoon at Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church.
The polling place serves many Republicans in GOP-heavy Cobb County. Among them: Robert Hager, a 69-year-old retiree. Hager said he’s keeping an open mind about the upcoming general election, but so far likes what he sees about Donald Trump. He said Trump “thinks he can get it done, and that’s half the battle.”
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12:15 p.m.
State election officials are taking to social media, warning Georgia voters to resist the urge to snap photos, or “selfies,” inside voting booths.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp Tuesday morning used the agency’s Twitter and Facebook accounts to remind voters that such activity is illegal under state law.
Kemp said no pictures of ballots or voting machines are permitted, and cellphones can’t be used inside the voting booths.
Election officials in other states have issued similar warnings in recent weeks before their elections, such as West Virginia’s primary earlier this month.
Georgia voters on Tuesday are choosing candidates for November’s elections. Polls close at 7 p.m.
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10:30 a.m.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office reports that investigators are looking into a handful of complaints from voters, but no major issues a few hours after polls opened.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. for voters to choose candidates for November’s elections.
Candice Brose, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s office, said early Tuesday that complaints range from someone not getting a correct ballot to a concern that one polling place doesn’t have enough parking spots for disabled people.
At a polling place in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, a woman reported being yelled at for bringing in materials with candidates’ names so she would remember who she wished to vote for. Brose said an investigator was dispatched to look into that complaint.
Polls are scheduled to remain open until 7 p.m. Tuesday.
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8:30 a.m.
Georgia election officials are encouraging voters to use social media to relay their voting experience and to report any irregularities or election complaints.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said in a statement that voters can post to the agency’s Facebook (facebook.com/BrianKempGA); Twitter (twitter.com/briankempga); and Instagram (instagram.com/BrianKempGA) pages.
Kemp said that all complaints will be promptly reviewed by the agency’s investigators. He said that if needed, officers will open a formal State Election Board investigation.
On Twitter, Kemp’s office is using the hashtag #PostThePeach, hoping that voters use it to encourage their friends to vote.
Voters are heading to the polls to pick candidates for November’s elections.
Polls across the state opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
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4:30 a.m.
Georgia voters are heading to the polls to pick candidates for November’s elections.
Georgia already held its presidential primary on March 1, hoping to boost Southern states’ influence.
Georgia’s 9th and 11th Congressional districts are among the heated contests in Tuesday’s elections. Incumbent Republican congressmen Doug Collins and Barry Loudermilk each have four primary challengers.
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson has two relatively unknown Republican challengers. Three Democrats compete to challenge the incumbent in November.
Seven Republicans are vying to replace retiring Rep. Lynn Westmoreland in west Georgia’s 3rd District. The final GOP nominee will face one of two Democratic primary hopefuls in November.
Many state legislative primaries also are on Tuesday’s ballot.
If one candidate does not receive a majority, the top two go to runoff elections July 26.
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