Several Georgia primary election races headed for unexpected runoffs

Many Georgia Republican voters went into Tuesday's primary election expecting to have to return to the polls for runoffs on June 21.

Donald Trump-backed challengers to Gov. Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other incumbent Republicans threatened to divide party voters and force the Round 2 of the primaries.

Instead, Kemp and Raffenperger won outright, and only one statewide GOP race, for lieutenant governor, might end up in a runoff. The current leader there, Burt Jones, is clinging to a runoff-avoiding majority of the vote.

The state's Democratic voters, though, will be casting primary ballots again.

Four statewide races are headed for runoff: lieutenant governor, secretary of state, Insurance commissioner and Labor commissioner. So are Democratic contests for U.S. House District 1, covering Savannah and the Georgia coast, and District 10, which includes Athens.

Joyce Griggs and Wade Herring will meet in a First Congressional District runoff while Tabitha Johnson-Green will face either Jessica Fore or Phyllis Hatcher in the 10th District. The 10th also will feature a Republican runoff, with Mike Collins taking on Vernon Jones.

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Runoffs are necessary when the top vote getter in a race fails secure a majority of the votes. If no candidate breaks 50%, the top two vote-getters face off in a runoff election to determine the winner.

The Georgia General Assembly first passed a law implementing its runoff system in the 1960s, according to ballotpedia.

Here's what to know about the races headed to runoffs.

Deep fields impact lieutenant governor's races

Nine Democrats qualified to run for Georgia lieutenant governor, the rare office where the incumbent, Republican Geoff Duncan, chose not to run for re-election.

Kwanza Hall was the top vote getter with 30.1% of the vote. Hall's name is familiar to many Democratic voters, particularly those in Atlanta, after a brief stint in the U.S. House in Rep. John Lewis's post following Lewis's death. In the runoff, Hall will likely face Charlie Bailey, who mounted a failed bid for Georgia attorney general in the 2018 election.

Bailey has a 21,000 vote lead on the third-place candidate with 94.97% of precincts reporting.

In the Republican race, Burt Jones held a comfortable 209,000-vote lead but was clinging to the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Jones has claimed 50.1% with 5% of the vote still to be counted. Butch Miller is a firm second with 31.11%.

Nguyen pushed to runoff for secretary of state

Georgia House Rep. Bee Nguyen is the top vote getter in the Democratic secretary of state's race but is will short of a majority. Considered a rising star in the Democrat Party, Nguyen won 44% of the vote in Tuesday's primary.

She'll face either Dee Dawkins-Haigler, a former Georgia House member, or Michael Owens, the widely respected former chairman of the Cobb County Democratic Party.

Dawkins-Haigler held a 15,000-vote lead on Owens with 94.97% of precincts reporting.

No runaways in Insurance, Labor commissioner races

Janice Laws Robinson flirted with an outright victory in the Democratic Insurance commissioner's race but remains short of a majority and is likely headed to a runoff against Raphael Baker.

Robinson ran for Insurance commissioner in 2018, and lost with 47% of the vote. Baker is an insurance salesman and author.

In the Labor commissioner race, Will Boddie and Nicole Horn were separated by a mere 16,000 votes with 94.97% of precincts reporting. Boddie has claimed 27.7% ahead of Horn at 25.2%,

Boddie is the current state representative for Georgia House District 62, and has held the seat since 2017. Horn worked previously as a political fundraiser and media consultant, and worked in public radio and TV news.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia election results: Several Democrat races head to runoff