Pardon Our Dust
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Voters in two Senate and seven House districts went to the polls Nov. 7 tocast their ballots in special elections for the Georgia General Assembly.After the votes were counted, five new representatives were electedoutright, while voters from both Senate and two House districts will returnto the polls Dec. 5 for a special election runoff to decide who willrepresent them when the legislative session convenes in January.
In an election that saw an 18.17 percent turnout of the more than 1.37million registered voters in those districts, Democrats were able to gaintwo seats in the House and one seat in the Senate, ending the Republicansupermajority in the Georgia General Assembly.
Senate District 6
A crowded field of three Democrats and five Republicans were on the ballotto replace Republican Sen. Hunter Hill. Democrats Jaha Howard and JenJordan will move on to the December runoff. Separated by less than 500votes, Jordan received 24.43 percent of the 24,017 votes cast in theNovember special election, while Howard came in second with 22.52 percentof the votes. One thing already is certain, however; residents of the 6thSenate District will be represented by a Democrat during the 2018legislative session.
Senate District 39
For the first time in two decades, residents of the 39th Senate Districtwill be represented by a female. Five Democrats squared off in the specialelection to replace longtime Democratic Sen. Vincent Fort. On Dec. 5,voters in this district will return to the polls to choose between LindaPritchett and Nikema Williams. Williams was the top vote-getter in thespecial election with 34.82 percent of the 26,446 votes cast, whilePritchett received 31.52 percent of votes.
House District 4
Republican Kasey Carpenter held off two Republicans and a Democrat tobecome the new Representative of the 4th House District. Carpenter, whogarnered 53.95 percent of the 3,574 votes cast, will replace RepublicanRepresentative Bruce Broadrick.
House District 26
Republican Mark Morris was able to avoid a runoff against a Republican anda Democratic challenger in the race to replace Republican Rep. GeoffDuncan. Earning 59.77 percent of the 3,204 votes cast, Morris received morethan double the votes of his nearest competitor.
House District 42
As the only candidate to qualify, Democrat Teri Anulewicz was declared theautomatic winner to replace Democratic Rep. Stacey Evans.
House District 60
Seeking to replace Democratic Rep. Keisha Waites, three Democrats squaredoff in November’s special election. Voters will return to the polls inDecember’s runoff to choose between the top two vote-getters. Separated byonly 46 votes, Kim Schofield and De’Andre Pickett received 35.85 percentand 34.95 percent, respectively, of the 5,170 votes cast in this race.
House District 89
Emerging from a four-Democrat slate, Bee Nguyen and Sachin Varghese willsquare off in a special election runoff to replace Democratic Rep. StaceyAbrams. Nguyen received 39.72 percent of the 10,713 votes cast, whileVarghese received 33.97 percent of the votes in November’s specialelection.
House District 117
One of three Democrats to flip a legislative seat, Deborah Gonzalez heldoff Republican Houston Gaines to emerge victorious in the race for the117th House District. Gonzalez, who received 53.15 percent of the 7,524votes cast, will replace Republican Rep. Regina Quick when the GeneralAssembly reconvenes in January.
House District 119
As the lone Democrat in a race against three Republicans, Jonathan Wallacewas able to avoid a runoff to replace Republican Rep. Chuck Williams. Oneof two Democrats to flip a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives,Wallace received 56.71 percent of the 7,911 votes cast, which is nearlythree times as many votes as his nearest competitor.
City of Atlanta
In addition to the legislative special elections, voters in the state’scapital city went to the polls in November to elect a new Mayor and 16 CityCouncil members.
Mayor
As a result of current Mayor Kasim Reed being term-limited, elevencandidates faced off in the November general election to serve as hissuccessor. With voter turnout among the more than 315,000 registered votershovering around 30%, current City Council members, Keisha Lance Bottoms andMary Norwood will meet in the December 5 runoff to decide who will be thenext Mayor of Atlanta. Each candidate has collected endorsements from theirformer general election adversaries and previous Atlanta mayors. One thingsis already certain however, the next Mayor will be just the second femaleto lead the City of Atlanta.
City Council
In addition to the mayoral runoff, Atlanta voters will return to the pollsto vote again in four City Council races, including the race for CityCouncil President. Six incumbents and nine new members will make up thenext Atlanta City Council, while one of the runoff races pits the incumbentagainst a first-time candidate.