They've been political adversaries for years, and now they're facing each other in a governor's race that could have historic implications. Georgia’s governor’s race -- already the nation’s most watched gubernatorial election this fall – is poised to go nuclear after the results of Tuesday night’s GOP runoff. Brian Kemp, who a decisive victory over Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, now faces Democrat Stacey Abrams on Nov. 6, in a battle between two elected officials who have been at odds with each other for years. Kemp led early as the results came in and never relinquished his lead. Cagle conceded the race just after 8:30 pm, and Kemp claimed victory to his supporters around 9 pm. Kemp finished second behind Cagle back on May 22 in the GOP primary. But less than a month before Tuesday’s runoff, the race tightened, and an 11Alive poll released just days before the runoff showed Kemp with a slight lead over Cagle, but with more than 20 percent of voters still undecided. The runoff gained national attention when President Donald Trump endorsed Kemp and Vice President Mike Pence making a campaign appearance for him on Saturday. Cagle's campaign was also severely damaged by a series of secret recordings that portrayed him in an unflattering light. The recordings were made by a former GOP gubernatorial rival, Clay Tippins, of conversations between the two men. Abrams is attempting to become the nation’s first African-American female governor, while Kemp seeks to continue the GOP’s domination of state government that has existed since 2002. Congratulations @BrianKempGA. You ran a great campaign & Georgia Republicans trust you to carry our mantle forward. To the #CagleLead supporters, Nita and I are truly touched by your dedication and commitment to our future!! We gave it our all & I’m proud of all we accomplished! — Casey Cagle (@CaseyCagle) July 25, 2018 The differences between Kemp and Abrams couldn't be clearer. Kemp is proud of his politically incorrect image, burnished by campaign ads where he aims a shotgun at one of his daughters' potential suitors and driving around in an old pickup truck he says he'll use to round up criminal illegal aliens. Abrams, on the other hand, is hoping the thousands of minority voters she has registered over the last four years, combined with millennials and Trump-hating voters, will help her make history this fall. Kemp and Abrams have been political enemies since 2014, when Kemp, as secretary of state, investigated Abrams’ New Georgia Project. Abrams and Rev. Rafael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church were attempting to register thousands of minority voters for the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections. Kemp, who chaired the state election board, and the bi-partisan board itself led a three-year investigation that determined that, out of nearly 90,000 applications that the group collected during the drive, 53 were found to be possibly fraudulent. “The reason that this case was so serious on the front end is because we were getting complaints from voters that their signatures had been forged on those voter registration applications,” Kemp said at the time. “We’re not going to tolerate fraud, but we’ll also work with people that want to do things the right way.” Warnock said the election board's investigation cleared the organization. While the NRA endorsed Cagle in the GOP primary, expect the powerful organization to endorse Kemp. It certainly won't endorse Abrams, who proudly touts her "F" rating from the organization. Expect President Trump to once again tout his support for Kemp this fall and perhaps make a campaign appearance for him as well. Several nationally prominent Democrats have already appeared for Abrams, including U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, both of whom have been mentioned as possible White House contenders in 2020. Abrams is an unabashedly left-leaning progressive. Expect Kemp to paint Abrams as an extreme, left-leaning progressive liberal unfit to govern what still remains a solidly Republican state. PHOTOS : Brian Kemp wins GOP governor's nomination 1/5 2/5 3/5 4/5 5/5 1 / 5<doc-sep>In Georgia, one of the few states holding July elections, voters are heading to the polls for runoff elections on Tuesday. Two Republicans — Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp — are facing off in a tight race to be the GOP nominee for governor (Republican Gov. Nathan Deal is term-limited out). Whoever wins Tuesday’s primary will face Democrat Stacey Abrams, who already won her primary in May. The governor’s race will be one of the most closely watched in the country; Abrams would make history as the first black woman governor if she wins in November. Beyond the governor’s race, there are two congressional races worth watching: Georgia’s Sixth and Seventh Congressional Districts. The Sixth is the same district where Democrats poured millions into Jon Ossoff’s failed campaign against Republican Rep. Karen Handel last year, while the Seventh is another district where Democrats would like to flip the seat currently held by Rep. Rob Woodall. Polls close at 7 pm Eastern. Vox has live results below, powered by Decision Desk. Georgia governor: Republican Brian Kemp beats Casey Cagle, will run against Democrat Stacey Abrams in November Update: Decision Desk has called the race for Brian Kemp. It was a close race between Republican frontrunners, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Cagle was more than 10 points ahead of Kemp in an earlier May primary, but President Donald Trump recently endorsed Kemp via Twitter, which may have given him an edge. Cagle and Kemp are both Georgia state officials, so it could be argued they’re both part of the state’s Republican establishment. But like in many other Republican races, the runoff become a race to see who was the most conservative and Trump-like. Whoever wins will compete against Democrat Stacey Abrams, the former state House minority leader whose campaign has Democrats across the country excited. Abrams already won her May primary. If she prevails against Kemp in November, she could be elected the first black woman governor in America. Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District: gun control activist Lucy McBath will challenge Rep. Karen Handel in the fall Update: Decision Desk has called the race for Lucy McBath. Two Democrats — gun control activist Lucy McBath and businessman Kevin Abel — faced off to see who would challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Karen Handel, who was elected to Congress in 2017. McBath won a close race on Tuesday night. Coming on the heels of Trump’s election, Georgia’s Sixth was supposed to be Democrats’ great hope of flipping a conservative district last year, but it turned into a big, expensive failure. It’s still a conservative district that the Cook Political Report rates Lean Republican, but McBath thinks she has a shot at flipping it to blue. McBath is making gun control a huge focus of her campaign; her son was shot and killed in 2012, which eventually spurred her to run for Congress. It could be a big test of whether the issue will win Democrats votes in a wealthy, educated suburban district. Abel, a white immigrant from South Africa, argued that McBath’s focus on gun control would lose her votes and said he was in a better position to appeal to voters and take on Handel. That theory will be tested in November. Georgia’s Seventh Congressional District: a long-shot pickup opportunity for Democrats Update: Decision Desk has called the race for Carolyn Bourdeaux. Two Democrats — Georgia State professor Carolyn Bourdeaux and tutoring business founder David Kim — competed to be the nominee. Bourdeaux will run against Republican Rep. Rob Woodall, in office since 2011. Georgia’s Seventh District is likely more of a long shot for Democrats; Cook rates it Likely Republican. Trump won this suburban district in 2016 by a little over 6 points, but Democrats view Woodall as a potential target (albeit a reach). Besides her experience in higher education, Bourdeaux previously served as the director of Georgia’s Senate Budget and Evaluation Office, and is hitting Woodall particularly hard on health care and his vote supporting Obamacare repeal in the House. Kim, a first-time candidate, said he wouldn’t support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in her bid for House speaker if elected to Congress. He dumped more than half a million dollars of his own money into his campaign, while Bourdeaux won the endorsement of Emily’s List, a progressive group that works to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights.<doc-sep>>> Tap this link for live AJC Election Results. << Winners of the Tuesday runoff elections, along with winners of the primary election in May, will appear on the Georgia general election ballot. The fall election is Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.<doc-sep>
Hide Transcript Show Transcript WEBVTT MANDY: HI, GABBY. IT SEEMS THAT VOTERS MAY BE GETTING OFF WORK BECAUSE WITHIN THE PAST FEW MINUTES WE HAVE SEEN QUITE A FEW PEOPLE COMING THROUGH HERE WITH A GOOD FLOW OF PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE DAY. THIS, THE ONLY PRECINCT IN STEPHENS COUNTY. SO FAR OFFICIALS SAY THAT THERE HAVE BEEN NO MAJOR VOTING PROBLEMS TO REPORT. THE PROBLEMS WITH THE GOVERNOR’S RACE ARE GETTING THEM TO THE POLLS, THEY SAY. AND THAT THEY GOT ALMOST AS MANY EARLY VOTING AND ABSENTEE BALLOTS FOR THIS RUNOFF AS THEY DID IN THE PRIMARY. >> I’M SURPRISED AND PLEASED WITH THE TURNOUT. I THINK WE WILL BE THE STATE AVERAGE, THEY ARE PROJECTING 10%. WE SHOULD BE IN THE 15% OR HIGHER PERCENTAGE ON TURNOUT. MANDY: WE ALSO CHECKED OUT VOTING IN HART COUNTY TODAY, WHICH SEEMED SLOWER WHEN WE WERE THERE THIS MORNING. THE POLLS TONIGHT CLOSE AT 7:00 AND OF COURSE WE’LL KEEP YOU POSTED ON RESULTS, ON AIR AND ONLI Advertisement Trump-backed candidate Kemp wins Georgia runoff Share Shares Copy Link Copy (Scroll to the bottom of this page for election results when the polls close)**APP users click here for results when polls close**Secretary of State Brian Kemp has won a bruising Republican runoff in the race for Georgia governor, leveraging a damning secret recording of his opponent and a late Trump-Pence endorsement.With Tuesday's win against Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Kemp faces Democrat Stacey Abrams. The race will test Democrats' assertion that changing demographics have turned the Republican stronghold into a swing state.Cagle's campaign was rocked by a secret recording in which he says he helped pass a "bad public-policy" bill for political gain.Gov. Nathan Deal and the National Rifle Association supported Cagle. But Kemp was boosted by the president's endorsement.Brad Raffensperger has won a Republican runoff in the race to replace Georgia's top elections official.Raffensperger of Johns Creek defeated former Alpharetta mayor David Belle Isle on Tuesday to become the GOP nominee for secretary of state. The office is currently held by Republican Brian Kemp, who passed on seeking re-election to run for governor.Raffensperger is a lawmaker in the state House and a businessman. He will face Democrat John Barrow of Athens in the fall campaign. Barrow is a former Georgia congressman who lost his seat in 2014.Both GOP runoff candidates emphasized upgrading Georgia's electronic voting machines for improved security as their top priority.The secretary of state oversees elections as well as corporate filings and professional licensing.Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has asked his supporters to stand behind Secretary of State Brian Kemp's bid for governor.After conceding the GOP runoff to Kemp on Tuesday, Cagle told supporters that Kemp was "undeniably ready to lead this state." The praise was a swift reversal after a nine-week runoff that saw Cagle and Kemp attack each other on multiple fronts.Kemp now faces Democrat Stacey Abrams as she tries to become the country's first black woman governor.Abrams, meanwhile, responded to Kemp's victory with a tweet asking supporters to stand behind her vision of Georgia against Kemp.Abrams and Kemp have sparred in the past over election security and voting rights.