Georgia GOP picks Collins and McCormick in Congress runoffs

Audio report by Rahul Bali.

Georgia Republicans chose their nominees in two heavily GOP districts in Tuesday runoffs.

In the 6th District in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, emergency room physician Rich McCormick held off Trump-backed lawyer Jake Evans. That race has revolved around accusations by each candidate that the other was insufficiently conservative.

In the 10th Congressional District east of Atlanta, Mike Collins beat former Democrat Vernon Jones.

Former President Donald Trump had endorsed both Jones and Evans.

Trucking company owner Collins, the son of former congressman Mac Collins, was narrowly the frontrunner in the eight-candidate May primary, while an endorsement from former President Donald Trump helped push Jones into second place.

Democrats in the 10th District, which runs from suburban Atlanta through 18 counties, were having their own runoff Tuesday. Collins will face either Tabitha Johnson-Green or Jessica Fore. The district is drawn to elect a Republican.

Most of Georgia’s Republican establishment lined up behind Collins, with incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp endorsing him last week, turning the runoff into something of a Kemp-Trump proxy war. Jones abandoned a primary challenge to Kemp in exchange for Trump’s endorsement for Congress.