Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bourdeaux fight for a Georgia district

State Rep. Donna McLeod, who is campaigning vigorously but slow to raise funds, is also entering the contest, which could result in a runoff.

The intraparty battle comes about a year and a half after Georgia, a longtime Republican stronghold, not only helped deliver the presidency to the Democrats, but also elected two Democratic senators, cementing the party’s senatorial majority. These victories were propelled by a wide constellation of constituencies, including a participation surge by black Georgians and a complete rejection of Donald J. Trump in the state diverse suburbs.

Ms. McBath is a black woman from suburban Atlanta who has been adopted by several liberal organizations and some progressives like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, but she is generally not considered a leftist candidate. Ms. Bourdeaux, a white moderate, was also good at wooing those in historically center-right territory. Both represent, in many ways, parts of the sprawling Biden coalition that Democrats are working to keep together heading into a tough midterm election season.

Ms. Bourdeaux is considered the most centrist candidate in the race. She joined other moderates in the House, for example, in saying that she would not support a budget resolution intended to pave the way for President Biden’s sweep social policy package until a bipartisan infrastructure measure became law, a stance that outraged many Democrats who had planned to pair priorities.

But unlike Democratic primaries elsewhere, the primary contest in Georgia’s Seventh District was not a searing ideological struggle over party leadership, or a race dominated by negative publicity. Both women focus on issues such as protecting the right to abortion and the right to vote, and they received a joint endorsement of the Family Planning Action Fund.

Still, there are clear stylistic and strategic differences as they compete to represent a racially and ethnically diverse neighborhood.

Ms. McBath, widely considered the frontrunner, is running on her personal story, recently drawing national attention from prominent Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for her deeply moving testimony about her struggles with pregnancy as she was advocating for abortion. rights.