(CNN) Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp will win the Republican nomination in the state's governor's race, CNN projects, setting up a general election battle against Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams in the fall.

It's another victory for President Donald Trump, who had backed Kemp over Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in the final week of what turned out to be a nasty primary runoff.

The Georgia contest was already in the national spotlight: Abrams is a rising progressive star vying to become the nation's first black female governor. And Georgia's move leftward in 2016 -- Trump beat Hillary Clinton there by just under six percentage points -- means both parties are looking to the governor's race as a test of whether the state will be in play in 2020.

Cagle was long thought to be the frontrunner and finished first with 38.9% of the vote in May's primary to Kemp's 25.6%. But because Cagle fell short of 50%, they advanced to a runoff, which had become a contest between the two candidates to cozy up to Trump.

Polls showed the race had swung in Kemp's direction after the primary. Then, he got a major boost last week when Trump unexpectedly extended his "full and total endorsement" in a tweet.

Brian Kemp is running for Governor of the great state of Georgia. The Primary is on Tuesday. Brian is tough on crime, strong on the border and illegal immigration. He loves our Military and our Vets and protects our Second Amendment. I give him my full and total endorsement. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018

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