A hurdle for Trump, a loss for wage hikes: Takeaways from elections in GA, OK

President Donald Trump's quest to dominate Republican primary elections met its first significant resistance June 16, going up against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's endorsement in a crucial U.S. Senate race.

But ultimately, Trump's preferred candidate, Mike Collins, won, clearing a hurdle around the big question related to president's influence in the GOP midterm elections.

Ahead of the midterms, the president has purged GOP dissenters and picked other nominees with ease, particularly in the South, where he has catapulted several longtime incumbents out of Congress.

Georgia Republicans remain raw, however, after losing multiple Senate battles to Democrats while running nominees more aligned with Trump than their own governor − a rumored White House contender who is popular with moderates and liked by conservatives despite having feuded with the president.

Other elections nationwide also showcased how Trump can influence the outcome of an election, including the first ever ranked-choice contest for mayor of Washington, DC.

Two very different Democrats − Janeese Lewis George, a self-described democratic socialist on the City Council, and Kenyan McDuffie, a more moderate former council member − saw Trump weigh in against Lewis George, the front-runner. That did not appear to hurt Lewis George, who was leading 53%-37% with 64% of the results counted.

Here are the important things to take away from Tuesday's races.

Trump versus Kemp: Who best to take down Ossoff?

Part of Trump's falling out with former Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene last year stemmed from the president's desire to run a more viable candidate for Senate in Georgia in 2026.

It would be easier for Republicans to keep control of the U.S. Senate this year if they could flip Georgia's Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff out of office, and this primary battle was largely a question of who was best for the job.

Kemp thought Derek Dooley, a personal friend and former college football coach, was the better fit. He put his entire political network behind Dooley and pitched him to Peach State voters as an outsider better suited for the general election.

The president issued a last-minute endorsement for Rep. Mike Collins, noting that, like Kemp, Dooley affirmed Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, which is a no-no for candidates seeking Trump's approval.

That helped Collins seal the nomination less than an hour after the polls closed. He is an immigration hard-liner popular among conservatives for drafting the Laken Riley Act, the first bill Trump signed into law when he returned to office.

But he also can be a lightning rod for Democrats, such as when the congressman suggested Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington "should be added to the deportation list" after she directly urged Trump to show mercy to immigrants in a sermon in January 2025.

Trump and Kemp agreed on Georgia governor pick − and lost

Things were a bit chummier between Trump and Kemp when it came time to pick a Republican successor to battle Democrat Keisha Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor, for the governorship this fall.

Both endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who joined Trump in trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, but their combined strength wasn't enough.

Georgia GOP voters ultimately went with Rick Jackson, a wealthy health care CEO supported by Sens. Ted Cruz, R- Texas, and Rick Scott, R-Florida, in an expensive runoff.

"Tonight, you made your voice loud and clear," Jackson told supporters June 16 after the election was called.

He was a self-funded juggernaut who dumped more than $100 million of his own money into the race, more than doubling Jones' spending. He argued that his business background uniquely qualified him as an outsider to tackle the state's problems in foster care and other areas, and he relentlessly attacked the Georgia lieutenant governor.

The two sides spent a total of about $162 million on primary ads according to AdImpact, a marketing analytics company.

Voters ignore Trump's warnings: Democratic socialist poised to become DC's new mayor

Trump didn't hesitate when asked if he'd be OK with Washington, DC, electing Lewis George as mayor June 16.

"I wouldn't like it − and maybe we'll take back Washington, run it on the federal basis. We won’t put up with it," Trump shot back while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office last week.

DC voters nonetheless appear poised to put the 38-year-old City Council member and her left-leaning agenda − which emphasizes universal child care, social housing and stronger labor unions − in charge of the nation's capital.

The preliminary tally showed that with about 64% of precincts reporting, Lewis George was leading McDuffie by 16 percentage points. Asked whether the president's remarks helped the campaign, Lewis George said it galvanized voters.

"If nothing else it got people to pay attention and got them to the polls, and that's a win for all of us in this city," she told reporters.

Lewis George's grassroots campaign has been compared to last year's elections of other democratic socialists, such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, by supporters and opponents alike.

She would be the first democratic socialist elected to run the nation's capital, marking a dramatic shift in tone and approach by the more centrist Mayor Muriel Bowser, who passed on another term.

Bowser tussled with Trump for much of 2025 over deploying the National Guard and briefly taking over the city's police department while cooperating with the White House on other matters such as clearing homeless encampments.

That might explain why ahead of the election Trump threatened the one wedge that his administration can leverage: the 1973 Home Rule Act, which gives the federal government certain powers over DC governance.

If Lewis George stays above 50% on the first round of vote counting − she now holds 53% − she'll win. If not, the race will go to an instant runoff based on voters' lower-ranked preferences to redistribute the votes of those who ranked a nonviable candidate first.

Oklahoma voters rejected raising hourly wage to $15

The ballot in Oklahoma had plenty of statewide races, but voters were plainspoken that raising wages for the poorest workers is what drove them to the polls on June 16.

Congress hasn't raised the national minimum wage − which remains at $7.25 an hour − in almost two decades, even though an increase has been popular among Americans across partisan lines. A 2024 Data for Progress survey found 86% of likely voters, including 84% of Republicans, don't think that's enough to live off.

"I think that it's kind of crazy that it is [$7.25]," Oklahoma Democrat Erik Acosta told the USA TODAY Network.

At least 28 states and Washington, DC, have raised the floor on what the lowest-paid workers get through ballot initiatives since 2014, including conservative-leaning states such as Florida, Missouri and Alaska.

But with more than 95% of the Sooner State vote counted, a ballot initiative that would gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2029 failed by a decisive margin. About 56% of voters opposed the increase, versus 44% who supported it.

Moore overcomes Hudson in Alabama GOP Senate runoff with Trump fuel

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is leaving Congress to run for governor, which means Alabama voters were left with two contenders in a runoff to replace the former Auburn head football coach.

Much like the other GOP primaries nationwide, rank-and-file Republicans followed the president's direction and supported Rep. Barry Moore over Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL. It is a remarkable turnaround given Moore trailed by as much as 10 percentage points in some statewide polls, but it again underscores the importance of Trump's support.

In such a deep-red state, Moore's primary win all but assures he will be Alabama's next senator come fall.

Contributing: Irene Wright, Terry Collins and James Powell