Pardon Our Dust
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While it seems unlikely anyone is unaware of the state of the Presidential election in Georgia, Georgia voters also cast ballots on Tuesday in two U.S. Senate elections, including a special election, 14 U.S. House elections, and all 236 state legislative elections. Voters turned out in record numbers, overwhelmingly casting votes by absentee or in person during the three week early voting period preceding Election Day.
While a couple House races remain close, if the results as of Friday, Nov. 6 afternoon hold, the Georgia Senate will welcome 10 new members and the House will welcome at least 25 new members when the legislative session convenes in January. Democrats will have picked up a net gain of two seats in the House for a breakdown of 77 Democrats to 103 Republicans and a net gain of one seat in the Senate for a breakdown of 22 Democrats and 34 Republicans.
Democrats appear to have bested three Republican incumbents in the Georgia House and one in the Georgia Senate. However, the more notable loss in the Georgia House is the sole Democratic defeat of House Minority Leader Bob Trammell. Republican losses by House Ways and Means Chair Bret Harrell and Senate Education Chair P.K. Martin will also have a notable impact on tax and education policy under the Gold Dome. In addition to Trammell’s defeat, the Senate Minority Leader’s decision not to run for re-election guarantees that both chambers will have new leadership for the Democratic minority.
The unusual election for two U.S. Senators will be prolonged until January 5 for one, if not both, seats. As widely anticipated, none of the 20 candidates in the special election to fill the remainder of Senator Johnny Isakson’s term garnered a majority vote. Gubernatorial-appointee Senator Kelly Loeffler (R) will now face off against Democrat Raphael Warnock in the forthcoming runoff to retain the seat. Although the early results seemed to indicate an easy re-election for Senator David Perdue (R), it appears, at the time of this writing, that Perdue will be unable to avoid a runoff against Democrat John Ossoff by a razor-thin margin. With the U.S. Senate majority hanging in the balance, Georgia looks to become the center of the political universe upon conclusion of the Presidential election.
Georgia will send four new members to the U.S. House in January, including one pick up for the Democrats. Among the notable freshmen will be former state senator Nikema Williams (D) to replace the longtime Congressman John Lewis (D) and Dr. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D) who will be the first Democrat to represent Georgia’s Seventh Congressional District in 26 years. Republicans Andrew Clyde and Marjorie Taylor Greene will also join the freshmen class. Congresswoman Lucy McBath (D) will return to Washington DC to represent Georgia’s Sixth District after Republican Karen Handel failed to retake the seat she lost in 2018 to McBath.
Leading up to the November 20 certification deadline, a couple of races appear to be close enough to allow candidates to request a recount. Candidates in races separated by 0.5% will have two days after the votes have been certified to request a recount.
Before the January Senate runoffs, voters in Atlanta will return to the polls on December 1 for two special election runoffs. While Congresswoman-elect Nikema Williams will succeed longtime Congressman John Lewis in the next Congress, Lewis’ immediate successor for the current Congress will be revealed in December after candidates failed to receive a majority of votes in September’s special election. Williams did not run in that race. Additionally, the special election for William’s former state Senate seat will also be decided in a December 1 runoff.