Political Rewind: Kemp could avoid runoff; Raffensperger holds his own; Trump held in contempt

Caption

JOHN BAZEMORE / AP

The panel: 

Amy Steigerwalt — Professor of political science, Georgia State University

Claire Sanders — Senior lecturer of political science, Georgia College

Tamar Hallerman — Senior reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tammy Greer — Professor of political science, Clark Atlanta University

The breakdown: 

1. Gov. Brian Kemp could win the GOP nomination without a runoff. 

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Kemp led David Perdue 53% to 27% in the poll of likely voters in the Republican primary.
• The poll was conducted earlier this month, before the series of debates hosted by the Atlanta Press Club.
  • The margin of error is 3.3 percentage points.

2. Brad Raffensperger is holding his own against Trump-backed U.S. Rep. Jody Hice in the race for Secretary of State. 

• The same poll had Raffensperger at 28% and Hice at 26% — a virtual toss-up within the margin of error.
• Raffensperger, the incumbent, refused Trump’s demand to find more votes after he lost the state of Georgia in the 2020 election.

3. Early voting starts next week for the Georgia primaries. 

• This is the first statewide election under new law SB 202.
  • The law was passed in 2021 and makes changes to absentee voting, early voting, and vote counting.
• Yesterday was the last day to register to vote in the May primaries.

4. A New York state judge on Monday held Donald J. Trump in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena.

• This relates to a part of a civil investigation into his business dealings.
• Trump was ordered to fully comply with the attorney general’s subpoena.
  • He will be fined $10,000 a day until he does, though the ruling may be short-lived.

Tomorrow on Political Rewind:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein joins our Wednesday panel.