Fayette County’s Live Election Results

Updated 20:40

Certified local election results are now in for Fayette County following Tuesday’s primary election, closing out several closely watched local and statewide contests.

In County Commission District 3 Republican race, James W. Clifton defeated Philip James Crane with 3,192 votes to Crane’s 1,555, according to the Fayette County Elections Office. Chandra C. Wright won the Democratic primary for the seat unopposed with 2,265 votes.

In the State Court Judge race, incumbent Jason B. Thompson secured reelection with 17,294 votes, or 62.56%, defeating Nailah Grant McFarlane, who received 10,350 votes, or 37.44%.

Fayette voters also decided several key statewide primaries. In the Republican gubernatorial primary, Fayette voters backed Burt Jones with 6,919 votes, or 35.67%, followed by Rick Jackson with 5,932 votes (30.58%) and Brad Raffensperger with 3,453 votes (17.80%). No Republican candidate reached the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff, meaning the statewide GOP governor race is expected to continue to a runoff election.

In the Republican U.S. Senate primary, Fayette voters favored Mike Collins, who received 7,215 votes (37.88%), while Derek Dooley followed closely with 6,984 votes (36.67%). Buddy Carter received 4,141 votes (21.74%). No candidate secured a majority, sending the Republican Senate primary to a statewide runoff.

On the Democratic side for governor, Fayette voters strongly backed Keisha Lance Bottoms with 6,445 votes, or 60.20%, enough to avoid a runoff. Jason Esteves finished second with 1,791 votes (16.73%), followed by Mike Thurmond with 989 votes (9.24%).

In the Democratic primary for State House District 68, no candidate secured the majority needed to win outright, advancing the race to a runoff. Mark Baker led Fayette County voting with 2,644 votes (30.93%), followed by Timoria McQueen Saba with 1,486 votes (17.39%) and Quentin “Q” Pullen with 1,402 votes (16.40%). Jonathan Bonner received 1,084 votes (12.68%), Courtney Heard received 985 votes (11.52%) and Jane Williams received 946 votes (11.07%).

The results are now certified, concluding Fayette County’s reporting on the 2026 primary election.

Updated 10:06 

Along with consultation of the Elections Board, The Citizen is calling the following races Tuesday night based on unofficial election results currently reported in Fayette County.

In the Fayette County Commission District 3 Republican primary, James W. Clifton led Philip James Crane with 2,876 votes, or 67.34%, compared to Crane’s 1,395 votes, or 32.66%, with eight of 10 precincts reporting.

In the State Court Judge race, incumbent Jason B. Thompson led Nailah Grant McFarlane with 17,294 votes, or 62.56%, compared to McFarlane’s 10,350 votes, or 37.44%, with 25 of 35 precincts reporting.

The results remain unofficial until certified.

Updated 9:55 p.m.

Unofficial election results in Fayette County continued to shift Tuesday night as more precincts reported results to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. The numbers include early and absentee ballots and remain unofficial until certified.

As of the latest update, 25 of 35 precincts had reported in several statewide and judicial races, while eight of 10 precincts had reported in the Fayette County Commission District 3 Republican race.

In the Fayette County Commission District 3 Republican primary, James W. Clifton led with 2,876 votes, or 67.34%. Philip James Crane followed with 1,395 votes, or 32.66%.

In the Democratic County Commission District 3 race, Chandra C. Wright received 2,084 votes, accounting for 100% of ballots reported in the race.

In the State Court Judge race, incumbent Jason B. Thompson led Nailah Grant McFarlane with 17,294 votes, or 62.56%. McFarlane received 10,350 votes, or 37.44%.

In another judicial race, Ben J. Miller Jr. received 24,126 votes in the Griffin Judicial Circuit race with 25 of 35 precincts reporting.

Fayette County Republican voters favored Mike Collins in the U.S. Senate primary with 5,380 votes, or 40.67%. Derek Dooley followed with 4,544 votes, or 34.35%, while Earl L. “Buddy” Carter received 2,717 votes, or 20.54%.

Jonathan “Jon” McColumn received 439 votes, while John F. Coyne III earned 148 votes.

In Fayette County’s Republican gubernatorial primary, Burt Jones led with 4,973 votes, or 36.67%. Rick Jackson followed with 3,826 votes, or 28.21%, while Brad Raffensperger received 2,986 votes, or 22.02%.

Chris Carr received 1,540 votes, or 11.35%. Clark Dean earned 90 votes, Gregg Kirkpatrick received 55 votes, Tom Williams had 37 votes and Ken Yasger received 56 votes.

On the Democratic side of the gubernatorial race, Fayette County voters favored Keisha Lance Bottoms with 8,323 votes, or 56.50%. Jason Esteves followed with 2,190 votes, or 14.87%, while Michael “Mike” Thurmond received 1,959 votes, or 13.30%.

Geoff Duncan received 1,305 votes, Derrick Jackson earned 566 votes, Olu Brown received 218 votes and Amanda Duffy earned 169 votes.

The results remain unofficial until certified.

Fayette County voters cast 17,561 ballots in Tuesday’s Georgia primary election, according to preliminary and unofficial results released Tuesday night by Fayette County election officials.

The results reflect Fayette County voting totals only and include 17,152 early voting ballots and 409 absentee-by-mail ballots. No Election Day or provisional ballots were listed in the countywide summary. Overall turnout reached 19.22% of the county’s 91,385 registered voters.

Several statewide races appeared on ballots across the county, but some of the closest attention locally centered on the Democratic primary for Georgia House District 68 and County Commission races.

Preliminary Fayette County tallies in the Democratic primary for Georgia House District 68 showed Quentin “Q” Pullen with 491 votes. Timoria McQueen Saba followed with 439 votes, while Mark Baker received 406. Jonathan Bonner earned 341 votes, Jane Williams received 217 and Courtney Heard finished with 193.

The District 68 race was one of Fayette County’s most crowded local contests and drew attention because the district represents portions of Fayette and Fulton counties.

County Commission races also appeared on ballots in select districts. Preliminary Fayette County results in the Republican primary for County Commission District 3 showed James W. Clifton with 1,661 votes and Philip James Crane with 762 votes.

Democrat Chandra C. Wright received 1,229 votes in the County Commission District 3 Democratic primary based on preliminary Fayette County totals. In County Commission District 4, Charles D. Rousseau received 3,509 votes in preliminary results.

Statewide races also brought voters to the polls.

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, preliminary Fayette County results showed former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms with 5,351 votes, followed by Michael “Mike” Thurmond with 1,396 and Jason Esteves with 1,174. Republican Fayette County voters gave Burt Jones 2,706 votes, while Rick Jackson received 2,340 and Brad Raffensperger earned 1,775.

In Georgia’s U.S. Senate primaries, incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff received 9,161 votes in preliminary Fayette County totals. Republican voters in Fayette County gave Mike Collins 3,215 votes, followed by Derek Dooley with 2,463.

Preliminary Fayette County results in the Democratic lieutenant governor race showed Nabilah Parkes with 4,017 votes, while Josh McLaurin received 3,370. Republican Greg Dolezal received 2,530 Fayette County votes.

Judicial races also drew countywide participation. Preliminary Fayette County results in the State Court Judge race showed incumbent Jason B. Thompson with 10,200 votes and Nailah Grant McFarlane with 6,507.

For the Georgia Supreme Court seat held by Sarah Hawkins Warren, preliminary Fayette County totals showed Warren with 9,757 votes compared to challenger Jen Auer Jordan’s 6,600. In another Supreme Court race, Charles “Charlie” Bethel received 8,251 Fayette County votes while Miracle Rankin received 8,288.

Fayette County voters also voted on several Republican and Democratic party questions. Republican voters overwhelmingly supported all eight GOP ballot questions, while Democratic voters largely rejected both Democratic Party questions included on ballots.