Brad Raffensperger wins GOP Secretary of State primary in Georgia despite Trump opposition

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger won the Republican primary to keep his job despite repeated attacks from former president Donald Trump.

Mr Raffensperger beat back Representative Jody Hice, whom Mr Trump endorsed, to win a second term as the the main arbiter of elections in Georgia. This came despite the fact that Mr Trump had repeatedly criticised Mr Raffensperger for not perpetuating the lie that 2020 presidential election was stolen.

After the election, Mr Trump criticised Mr Raffensperger and Governor Brian Kemp for not overturning the election results in the state after President Joe Biden became the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992 to win the state. In the days after the race, The Washington Post uncovered audio of a phone call in which Mr Trump attempted to persuade Mr Raffensperger to “find” additional votes to change the election results.

“So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state,” Mr Trump told Mr Raffensperger at the time, which Mr Raffensperger rebuffed.

When Mr Trump criticised him on Twitter, Mr Raffensperger pushed back.

“Respectfully, President Trump: What you're saying is not true. The truth will come out,” he tweeted at the time.

Mr Raffensperger’s victory was the second big defeat for Mr Trump in a primary challenge as Mr Kemp beat former Senator David Perdue in the gubernatorial primary. Mr Trump had persuaded Mr Perdue to run and endorsed his candidacy, but the latter ran a lacluster campaign.