Ed Gillespie narrowly defeated Corey Stewart for the Republican nomination. Frank Wagner, thought well of by insiders and endorsers, did not get many votes. Polling, always difficult in low-turnout primary elections, had Gillespie winning by double digits. But Stewart, a strong Trump supporter who made appeals to white supremacy, shocked the party.

Turnout among Republican voters was nearly 366,000--about 7% of active voters, while Democrats turned out over 10%. Compare this with the 2016 presidential primaries: Republican turnout of 1,025,000 voters greatly exceeded Democratic turnout of 785,000.