Tuesday's primaries highlight key matchups in sprint to midterms

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May 17, 2026 #GOP #Politics #Election

After Sen. Cassidy's stunning defeat in Louisiana, all eyes are on six states holding primaries this Tuesday: Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Oregon, Idaho, and Alabama. Political reporters from four of those states, Greg Bluestein, Whitney Downard, McKenna Horsley and Anna Barrett join “The Weekend” to discuss what the primaries will signal for November. MS NOW: My Source for News, Opinion, and the World. » Subscribe to MS NOW:

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Transcript

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1 second

But we begin this hour with last night's majo election upset in the Louisiana U .S.

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Senate primary, where two-term Republican Senator Bill Cassidy failed to make the runoff.

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Cassidy has long been a target for President Trump ever since he voted to impeach Trump after the January 6th insurrection.

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He's also the first sitting senator to lose a primary since 2012, a sign of Trump's dominance over the GOP.

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That grip could be on display again on Tuesday when and six more states hold primaries with some big races that we will

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be watching in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Oregon, Idaho, and Alabama.

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Joining us now to discuss some of those primaries are Greg Blustein, chief political reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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and MSNOW political contributor and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.

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Whitney Downard, reporter for the Pennsylvania Capital Star.

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McKenna Horsley, politics reporter for the Kentucky Lantern and Anna Barrett, state government reporter for the Alabama Reflector.

1 minute, 6 seconds

Whitney McKenna and Anna join also join us through our partnership with the state's newsroom, the nation's largest state focused nonprofit news organization.

1 minute, 17 seconds

McKenna I'm coming to you first because we're going to go to Kentucky.

1 minute, 20 seconds

Let me SHOW YOU, OH, THIS WAS AT 1240 A .M., I THINK THIS IS A TRUTH SOCIAL ATTACK ON TOM MASSEY.

1 minute, 32 seconds

I'M JUST GOING TO READ SOME OF IT.

1 minute, 33 seconds

TOM MASSEY OF KENTUCKY, THE WORST AND most unreliable Republican congressman in the history of our country is an even bigger insult to our nation than Senator Bill Cassidy

1 minute, 41 seconds

of Louisiana, who suffered an unprecedented loss tonight by not even being allowed to run in the Republican primary blah blah blah Tom

1 minute, 51 seconds

Massey a major sleazebag is even worse Kentucky get this all caps loser out of politics

1 minute, 58 seconds

in Tuesday's election McKenna will the people of Kentucky do to Congressman Massey

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with the people of Louisiana did last night to Senator Cassidy yes that's definitely the question that's on the mind is of a lot

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of Kentucky voters especially in that fourth congressional district I would say it's shaping up to be

2 minutes, 20 seconds

a very close race here on the ground especially tightening over the last week his challenger Ed Galrine is from kind of the western part

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of the district where Massey is from that eastern part so we're seeing those two regions being kind of pitted together towards this but I do

2 minutes, 38 seconds

definitely think that this is shaping up to be a referendum on do these voters want Thomas

2 minutes, 45 seconds

Massey or do they not and rather than a choice between the two candidates and their platforms

2 minutes, 54 seconds

Greg let's hopscotch to Georgia quickly I know we are not in the prediction business

3 minutes, 1 second

and we try not to engage in that on the show too much but when you are looking at the Senate race this is obviously a race

3 minutes, 9 seconds

against John Ossoff Mike Collins against John Ossoff that Republicans are hoping to potentially pick up what what is the state

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of that of play in that race right now yeah well mike collins is the republican front runner um but he's going against buddy carter another congressman

3 minutes, 25 seconds

and derek duly a former football coach backed by governor brian kemp so right now you know it's a it's it's looking like um it's going to be mike collins

3 minutes, 33 seconds

versus either of those two opponents in a potential june runoff and the question here is what governor kemp's clout will will look like

3 minutes, 42 seconds

because the governor has gone all in for Derek Dooley.

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He's campaigned all over the state last month or so.

3 minutes, 48 seconds

It's like a tag team special between the two of them and the governor says only an outsider can hope to beat John Ossoff that basically

3 minutes, 56 seconds

I DON'T THINK IT'S NOT GOING TO IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A CONGRESSMAN LIKE MIKE COLLINS OR BUDDY CARTER HAS NO CHANCE AGAINST THE DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENT.

4 minutes, 3 seconds

THAT'S HOW STRONG REPUBLICANS SEE JOHN OSSOFF'S CHANCES IS THAT AN ASSESSMENT THAT YOU AGREE WITH?

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IT LOOKS LIKE, LOOK, I MEAN, ACCORDING TO AJC POLLS, JOHN OSSOFF HAS HIGH APPROVAL RATINGS OF COURSE, NOT JUST FROM DEMOCRATS BUT ALSO THE

4 minutes, 18 seconds

INDEPENDENT SWING voters who will help decide this election in Georgia, you've got to have, as a Democrat, you've got to have a significant number of Trump voters to back you.

4 minutes, 28 seconds

And so Republicans have been squeamish here literally for months not just recently but for months about john ossoff's chances

4 minutes, 36 seconds

because he's at once vulnerable he's the only democratic incumbent running for another term in a trump and a state trump one but also he's formidable he's this sort

4 minutes, 45 seconds

of paradox politically and a bear let's go to Alabama I live there for exactly one year as a kid I need you to help me understand

4 minutes, 53 seconds

I need you to help me understand something Anna the Secretary of State in Alabama West Allen this is from AL .com said

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that the primary next week is still on but votes won't count in four district they will be voided

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after a special primary in August what does that tell voters in this primary in the state

5 minutes, 15 seconds

about how this party how the secretary of state thinks about their votes what have

5 minutes, 21 seconds

you heard so the situation in the special primary in four congressional

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districts one two six and seven is a byproduct of the kelly decision in which we went

5 minutes, 35 seconds

into a special session to pass legislation, setting up that special primary in case the Supreme Court told us

5 minutes, 42 seconds

that we could revert to our legislature past map in 2023 that a federal court ruled was racially discriminatory twice.

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And voters should still━and I want to be so clear about this━voters should still fill out their ballot top to bottom,

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even in congressional districts 1, 2, 6, and 7, if that is where they live.

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Even though we have those special primaries in August, because that litigation is not over.

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The Supreme Court order just sent it back to the federal court here in Alabama to reconsider it under Calais.

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So, it's not over, per OH, THAT'S A GUNTHON.

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PEOPLE IN ALABAMA, I HOPE YOU ARE WATCHING, THEY HAVE GOT FACTS FOR YOU. PEOPLE IN ALABAMA, I Let's go.

6 minutes, 38 seconds

Whitney Downard in Pennsylvania.

6 minutes, 40 seconds

What what are the bellwether districts to watch?

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Yeah, so we really have four districts here that Democrats are hoping to flip from Republicans in November, and three of those have primaries on Tuesday.

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Outside of the Philly suburbs, we've got the first district.

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Then we've also got the seventh in Lehigh Valley and the 10th here in Harrisburg.

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And those are really the races we're going to be watching pretty closely to see who emerges as a Democratic front runner.

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It's really going to be a test of governor josh shapiro's power within the party because he has kind of handpicked somebody

7 minutes, 20 seconds

in each of those races that he really wants to win and set him up for success for potential future political aspirations?

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You know, Whitney, I want a scarf. I see all that yarn behind you. Exactly. You're correct.

7 minutes, 38 seconds

No, we ask for what we want. Closed mouths don't get fed.

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I want to go to each of you really quickly in the time that we have left and just as succinctly as you possibly can,

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what's the one thing, the one issue that is moving the voters of your state that you think folks like us on the national level might be missing?

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I'll start with you, Greg.

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Yeah, well, of course, affordability, the economy is number one, but we're also watching the impact of the 2020 election here in Georgia and Trump's attempt to overturn

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his defeat to Joe Biden, because that is still coloring a lot of these races, Democrats and Republicans.

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Democrats, of course, trying to safeguard against another attempt

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that the polls are higher than anywhere in the Southeast.

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That was a big issue during the legislative session, but also this voting rights discussion that's been happening over the last few weeks.

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I mean, as you mentioned over right before our election, I mean, as you mentioned over right before our segment, there were over 5 ,000 people here yesterday fighting for voting rights just like they were 60 years ago.

8 minutes, 56 seconds

McKenna, the voters in Kentucky? Yes.

8 minutes, 58 seconds

You know, I think this is definitely a referendum on the future of the Republican Party, both here in Kentucky and at the national level.

9 minutes, 7 seconds

This fourth congressional district in northern Kentucky has really become a libertarian stronghold.

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And we see that reflected throughout Massey's time in Congress, but also here at the statehouse level,

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a lot of libertarian types have defeated SO I THINK THIS IS GOING TO BE

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A REFERENDUM ON WHAT THE FUTURE OF THE PARTY WILL BE MOVING FORWARD.

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WINNIE, WE'LL LET YOU HAVE THE LAST WORD BEFORE YOU GET STARTED ON THOSE SCARFS. AFFORDABILITY IS REALLY BIG HERE, TOO.

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PEOPLE ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT DATA CENTERS.

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OUR GOVERNOR HAS KIND OF THROWN HIS SUPPORT BEHIND DATA CENTERS BUT ALSO WANTS TO PURSUE A A LITTLE BIT MORE TRANSPARENCY OVER SOME OF THE ASSOCIATED COUGH.

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AND SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF VOTERS HAVE BEEN WORRIED ABOUT BECAUSE JUST LIKE ALABAMA, WE HAVE VERY HIGH UTILITY PRICES.

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