Abrams, Kemp, Warnock, Walker Qualify For Georgia Primaries

ATLANTA, GA — The primary ballots are set.

With Friday having been the final day to qualify for the May primaries and the subsequent November general election, Gov. Brian Kemp will defend his seat against four Republican challengers in the Georgia primaries on May 24, while Stacey Abrams will be the sole Democrat at the top of the ballot for the gubernatorial race.

Sen. Raphael Warnock will see one competitor in May, and the GOP dance card to face him (or Warnock’s Democratic opponent) includes Georgia Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker and five other candidates.

In order to get to the two most anticipated Georgia races in November, Kemp, Warnock and Walker will have to hunker down and focus on getting through May. Abrams must play the waiting game for another shot at the governor's mansion.

Former President Donald Trump has directed his ire at Kemp for not convening state legislators to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results and is backing the most popular primary opponent of the moment, former Sen. David Perdue. Kandiss Taylor, Catherine Davis and Tom Williams are also slated to face off against the incumbent governor.

Independent Al Bartell and Libertarian Shane Hazel are running unopposed in May and will be gunning for the gubernatorial seat in November.

Warnock is matched against DeKalb County advocate and businesswoman Tamara Johnson-Shealey.

Walker will be joined on the Republican primary ballot by state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, businessmen Josh Clark, Kelvin King and Latham Saddler, and military retiree Jonathan “Jon” McColumn.

Another Georgia incumbent on Trump’s hit list is Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. After famously (or infamously) refusing to “find 11,780 votes” to overturn the 2020 election at the former president’s whim, Kemp signed legislation stripping Raffensperger’s office of election oversight. Now he is in a fight for his political life against Trump endorsee state Rep. Jody Hice, former Alpharetta mayor David Belle Isle and Treutlen County Manager T.J. Hudson.

Should he earn GOP voters’ nomination in May, Raffensperger will go up against the winner of the Democratic primary: either state Rep. Bee Nguyen, former Fulton County Commissioner John Eaves, cybersecurity expert and voting rights advocate Michael Owens, author and documentary filmmaker Dee Dawkins-Haigler, and former Milledgeville mayor Floyd Griffin.