Political Rewind: Abrams and Dems win big; Trump-backed candidates lose; Shaye Moss' testimony

Caption

Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, is comforted by her mother Ruby Freeman, right, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a yearlong investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2022.

Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The panel 

Alan Abramowitz, @AlanIAbramowitz, professor emeritus of political science, Emory University

Chauncey Alcorn, @CLamontLives, reporter, Capital B Atlanta 

Karen Owen, @ProfKarenOwen, professor of political science, University of West Georgia

Greg Bluestein, @bluestein, political reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The breakdown

1. Candidates backed by Stacey Abrams win their primaries 

• The Democratic nominee for governor in Georiga endorsed three candidates on the statewide ballots. They all won their contest and include: 
  • Attorney Charlie Bailey for lieutenant governor
  • State Rep. William Boddie for labor commissioner
  • State Rep. Bee Nguyen for secretary of state.
• If Nguyen unseats incumbent Brad Raffensperger, she will be the first Asian-American to be elected to a statewide office in Georgia.

2. Trump-backed candidates take big losses. 

• Trump-backed Jake Evans in the 6th District and Vernon Jones in the 10 District both fell short in the runoff races.
• The former president has only two winning candidates in Georgia: the popular Heisman winner Herschel Walker and State Rep. Burt Jones, who are running for U.S. Senate and lieutenant governor, respectively. 

3. Surprise win from Chris West in the 2nd District. 

• Thomasville attorney Chris West beat out West Point graduate Jeremy Hunt.
• West spent about $200,000 dollars on his campaign to Hunt’s $2.5 million.
• West will now try to unseat longtime incumbent and Democrat Sanford Bishop. 

4. Fulton County election worker grips nation with testimony to the January 6th committee. 

• For the past two weeks, the congressional Jan. 6 committee has held hearings with the goal of making a case that former President Trump was responsible for the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.
• Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his second-in-command Gabriel Sterling were expected to be the star witnesses as they recapped standing up to Trump’s request to find more than 11,000 votes and certifying Georgia’s results of the 2020 elections.
• But it was the testimony of Fulton County Election worker Wandrea "Shaye" Moss that gripped the attention of the nation.

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