Strong backed for Brooks seat: Dale Strong, a volunteer firefighter who chairs the Madison County Commission, won a primary runoff for Brooks’ old congressional seat in the deep-red 5th District. Strong had 63 percent of the vote to 37 percent for Casey Wardynski, who served as assistant secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs and as superintendent of the Huntsville school district, at 8:35 p.m. Central time when the AP called the race. Strong’s campaign hauled in nearly $1.3 million, including some $200,000 in candidate loans, and had $80,000 cash on hand as of June 1, according to FEC reports. Wardynski raised more than $700,000 and had a little more than $170,000 on hand as of June 1. House Freedom Action, a super PAC whose contributors include megadonor Richard Uihlein, invested at least $280,000 in attacks against Strong in an attempt to boost Wardynski, while a smaller Alabama super PAC called Defend Our Values spent $30,000 supporting Strong, FEC records show. America First Alabama PAC spent about $90,000 in outside expenditures to boost Wardynski during the runoff, disclosures show.
Georgia
West wins 2nd District runoff: Attorney and Georgia Air National Guard officer Chris West won the runoff for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. Sanford D. Bishop in November.
West was leading Jermey Hunt, a former Army captain and Fox News contributor, 51 percent to 49 percent when the AP called the race at 11:06 p.m. West had finished 7 points behind Hunt in the six-candidate May primary, and overcame a fundraising disadvantage by attacking Hunt as a carpetbagger. Hunt left Yale Law School to enter the race and registered to vote in Muscogee County in February, according to local reports.
West was outspent by more than 3-1 in the campaign and did not appear to receive any outside support. Hunt, who was named to the “On the Radar” program by the National Republican Congressional committee, raised $606,000 through June 1 and benefited from another $620,000 combined spent since the primary by two outside groups, the American Values First PAC and American Patriots PAC.
Bishop, the incumbent, is a member of the DCCC’s Frontline incumbent protection program. The district became more Republican after redistricting, and the November race is rated Likely Democratic by Inside Elections.
