Primary challenges against some of the Legislature's biggest names appeared to fail Tuesday in metro Atlanta, despite struggles by other incumbents to beat back their opponents.
Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, and Gwinnett County Republican Don Balfour — the longtime chairman of the Senate's powerful Rules Committee — both maintained leads as unofficial results were reported late into the evening.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bill Heath, R-Bremen, appeared headed into a runoff with main challenger Bill Carruth, former chairman of the Paulding County Board of Commissioners.
Others incumbents lost. Among them, state Rep. Steve Davis, R-McDonough, who was down 2-1 to challenger Dale Rutledge when he tweeted just after 10 p.m. that he had called Rutledge to concede. "I want to thank my family and volunteers for the help," Davis said. "It has been great honor to serve you!"
In another closely watched race, the three-way fight for the Republican nomination in the 6th Senate District was expected to head to a runoff between the top two finishers.
That race has been one of the primary's more competitive and expensive, as the three well-funded candidates — Josh Belinfante, Hunter Hill and Drew Ellenburg — pushed to take on Democratic incumbent Doug Stoner of Smyrna in a district that was redrawn last year to include heavily Republican sections of north Fulton County.
The most watched metro race, however, belonged to Rogers in the 21st Senate District challenge.
The Cherokee County Republican's 10-year rise to leadership at the Capitol has put him in one of its highest — and high-profile — positions, where he has championed conservative issues while also getting involved nationally with groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Republican-leaning policy group.
The climb came with increased scrutiny, however, including news reports over a failed hotel venture and past work as a pitchman promoting expert picks for sports gamblers. It also brought a rarity in this primary season, a GOP incumbent who faced a credible challenger: Brandon Beach, president and CEO of the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce.
Balfour, on the other hand, has endured months of ethics complaints that accuse him of falsely claiming mileage and per diem reimbursements from the state. He is also accused of failing to perform audits of senators' reimbursement requests as state law requires the Rules chairman to do.
Balfour's troubles, however, didn't harm his fundraising. By the end of June, he reported having nearly $800,000 in cash in his campaign account, a huge advantage over his two Republican opponents, who combined had about $5,000 in cash. In the end, challengers Travis Bowden and Steve Ramey never gained any steam to unseat the 20-year incumbent Balfour, R-Snellville, in the state's 9th Senate District.
In the race for the 31st Senate District in west metro Atlanta, Heath and Carruth have traded barbs and accusations for weeks. With neither appearing to gain more than 50 percent of the vote, that acrimony seems likely to continue until the Aug. 21 runoff election.
Across the state, other incumbents faced uphill battles. State Sen. Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville, was behind in his race against challenger Burt Jones. And Senate Majority Whip Cecil Staton, R-Macon, was losing in a tight race with challenger Spencer Price.
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