Alabama, Virginia, Georgia head to polls for primary races Tuesday

June 21 (UPI) -- Voters took to the polls Tuesday evening to decide a trio of primary races in Alabama, Virginia and Georgia.

Former President Donald Trump's influence loomed over Tuesday's races as he had endorsed both Alabama Senate candidates at various points.

Candidates in Virginia will also seek to unseat Jan. 6 House committee member Rep. Elaine Luria, as a pair of Democratic candidates vied to replace Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger who testified before the committee Thursday.

Alabama

Katie Britt, a former top aide to retiring Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., defeated Rep. Mo Brooks, in a runoff to determine who will run against Democratic nominee Will Boyd to fill Shelby's seat in the U.S. Senate in November, NBC News projected.

Trump initially backed Brooks, who was once a staunch loyalist, but withdrew his endorsement after he dropped in the polls, stating that Brooks sought to "move on" from the 2020 election that the former president still falsely claims he won.

He then shifted his endorsement to Britt, who has embraced his claims of election fraud.

Virginia

Republican State Sen. Jen Kiggans was projected to win the 2nd district primary and face off against Luria in November.

Luria and Kiggans are both Navy veterans seeking to claim victory in the district, which now contains only one in five voters who are either on active duty in the military or are veterans.

Redistricting has altered the field for Luria, who has represented Virginia's 2nd district since 2019, as her home in Norfolk was jettisoned from the district and a significant amount of rural terrain was added.

Kiggans led the field in fundraising and took a jab at Luria's role on the Jan. 6 committee while greeting voters at a polling site Tuesday.

"There was not a single person I talked to or a single door I knocked on where someone wanted to talk about the Jan. 6 commission," Kiggans said. "They want to talk about gas prices and grocery prices and the economy, the economy, the economy. They want to know what we're going to do to lower gas prices, which really affects the price of everything."

Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega was also projected to win a race for the right to challenge Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger in Virginia's 7th Congressional district, defeating State Sen. Bryce Reeves and Army Special Forces veteran Derrick Anderson.

Georgia

Georgia State Rep. Bee Nguyen was projected to defeat former state Rep. Dee Dawkins Haigler in a runoff to determine who will win the Democratic nominee to challenge Raffensperger in November.

Raffensperger on Thursday testified before the House Jan. 6 committee that his office investigated "every single allegation" made by Trump about the election and found no evidence of widespread fraud.

Two Black Republicans were projected to lose bids to earn seats in Congress Tuesday night.

Jeremy Hunt a West Point graduate and former Army captain, was defeated by Chris West, a White Air National Guard officer who has sought to tie himself to Trump in Georgia's 2nd district.

Meanwhile, Vernon Jones, a former State representative and longtime Democrat who jumped over to the GOP after endorsing Trump in 2020, lost against Mike Collins, who received the backing of Gov. Brian Kemp in the 10th district.