Stacey Abrams wins Democratic Georgia gubernatorial nomination

Stacey Abrams easily won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination Tuesday in Georgia, delivering a victory for liberals both inside and outside of the state and setting the stage for her to test drive a strategy that she hopes will change the way Democrats run in the Deep South.

The gubernatorial battle in Georgia, where Republican Gov. Nathan Deal is term-limited and the GOP has held the governorship since 2003, was among the most watched races playing out across the country on Tuesday that will shape the midterm elections.

Ms. Abrams bested Stacey Evans, putting the former state house minority leader a step closer toward making history by becoming the first black woman ever to be elected governor in the United States, and Georgia’s first woman governor.

It also means the 44-year-old will have a platform to convince Democrats it is time to adopt a new playbook that shifts focus away from courting conservative-leaning whites that aren’t thrilled with the party and toward expanding their support among young voters and minorities more open to liberal ideas.

“This is going to be a really intriguing test case,” said Andra Gillespie, political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta.

With 86 percent of the precincts counted, Ms. Abrams had a 75 percent to 24 percent lead over Mrs. Evans.

On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp were the two finishers and headed to a July 24 runoff race.

Mr. Cagle had 38.7 percent of the vote, followed by Mr. Kemp, 25.9 percent and state Sen. Hunter Hill, 18 percent. They needed to collect 50 percent of the vote to win the nomination outright.

Voters also hit the polls in Arkansas, Texas and Kentucky, where Amy McGrath won the Democratic nomination in the state’s 6th Congressional District.

Mrs. McGrath cast herself as the outsider in the race, playing up her experience as a fighter pilot, and painted her top rival, former Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, as the preferred pick of Washington Democrats.

Mrs. McGrath will square off against Republican Rep. Andy Barr in the fall. Mr. Barr cruised to the GOP nomination, but is considered vulnerable in the midterm election.

Much of the attention in Texas was focused on the runoff race in the 7th Congressional District in the Houston suburbs between Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher and Laura Moser, who was the favorite of liberal activists.

Much of the attention in Texas was focused on the runoff race in the 7th Congressional District in the Houston suburbs that served as a proxy war between the party’s more moderate and liberal wings.

Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, the favorite of the Democratic establishment, ended up defeating progressive darling Laura Moser.

The winner will advance to take on Rep. John Culberson, who has held the seat since 2001 and is viewed as one of the weaker GOP incumbents nationwide.

In the 23rd Congressional District, Gina Ortiz Jones defeated Rick Trevino, and will challenge Republican Rep. Will Hurd in November. In the 32nd Congressional District Colin Allred outperformed Liliana Salerno in the primary runoff and will face-off against Rep. Pete Sessions.

Also in Texas, former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez edged out Houston businessman Andrew White in a tight race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and the chance for November showdown with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

In Arkansas, state Rep. Clarke Tucker captured the Democratic nomination in the 2nd Congressional District and will take on Republican Rep. French Hill.

In Arkansas’ gubernatorial race, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson easily survived a primary challenge from his right flank from Jan Morgan. Jared Henderson won the Democratic nomination.

Though there was little daylight in Georgia between Ms. Abrams, who is black, and Mrs. Evans, who is white, on the issues, Ms. Abrams emerged as the preferred pick of numerous national groups as well as a slew of African American leaders, including Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont also endorsed her.

Ms. Gillespie noted that when the party has run centrist candidates — including Michelle Nunn for the U.S. Senate and Jason Carter for governor in 2014, both products of the political dynasties — they still lost white voters by a landslide.

“What Abrams is saying is she is not going to do any worse and potentially, because of her historic first candidacy, she might actually increase African American turnout,” Ms. Gillespie said. “If she loses, and she does as well or better as the white centrists candidates who ran in 2014 she has made a very, very important point about whether black candidates should be encouraged to run for office or strategically whether they should present themselves as centrists or as being a progressive candidate.”

But while GOP strategist David Johnson agreed that the state’s changing demographics are pushing the state less “red” than it once was, Ms. Abrams is likely ceding too much ground to win in November.

“Traditional Democrats in Georgia and in the South try to appeal to your moderate, independent voters, your weak Republican,” he said. “Stacey Abrams has said basically we don’t need those votes.”