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Blue Wave in Georgia State Races
Besides Keisha Lance Bottoms as Governor, The Citizen is calling Lieutenant Governor for Democrat Josh McLaurin, Penny Brown Reynolds for Secretary of State, and Tanya Miller for Attorney General. All Democrats, they all have over 55% of the vote and have made it impossible for a Republican to overtake them in their state numbers, according to information from the Fayette County Election Board.
9:22 p.m. Update
The Fayette County Election Board and The Citizen are calling the County Commission Race for James Clifton. Also we are calling the Senate Race for Incumbent Jon Ossoff, and the Governor’s Race for Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Nearly half of Fayette County’s registered voters cast ballots before Election Day, and their early votes favored Democrats in every statewide race. Neighboring Coweta County reported a sharply different result Tuesday night, with Republicans leading every statewide contest.
As of 8 p.m., Fayette County had recorded 46,091 ballots from its 93,294 registered voters, representing 49.40% turnout before Election Day votes were counted.
The figures were provided directly to The Citizen by the Fayette County Board of Elections. They include 44,117 advance in-person votes and 1,974 absentee mail ballots.
Coweta County’s early voting turnout was approximately 35%. By 9:10 p.m., Coweta had posted results that included some Election Day ballots, along with advance and absentee voting.
Ossoff wins reelection despite Republican lead in Coweta
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff won reelection to a second term, according to a race call by The Associated Press.
In Fayette County, Ossoff received 27,556 early votes, compared with 18,197 for Republican challenger Mike Collins.
In Coweta County, the results were reversed. Collins received 24,870 votes, compared with 19,862 for Ossoff, giving the Republican approximately 55.6% of the votes reported there.
A similar divide appeared in the governor’s race.
In Fayette County, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms received 25,528 early votes, compared with 20,238 for Republican Rick Jackson.
In Coweta, Jackson received 26,937 votes, compared with 17,851 for Bottoms, giving Jackson approximately 60.1% of the votes reported.
Democrats led all 11 statewide contests in Fayette’s early returns, while Republicans led all 11 contests in Coweta’s 9:10 p.m. report.
Earlier statewide returns had shown Democrats leading all statewide races at approximately 8 p.m., although those margins were subject to change as additional counties reported.
Congressional races show different results locally and districtwide
In Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Republican Brian Jack was leading Democrat Maura Keller districtwide, with 53.44% of the vote compared with Keller’s 46.56%, as of 8 p.m.
Fayette County’s early returns favored Keller, who received 20,895 votes compared with 17,910 for Jack.
Coweta County favored Jack by a wider margin. The Republican received 26,121 votes compared with 18,620 for Keller, approximately 58.4% to 41.6%.
In Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Lucy McBath received 5,432 Fayette County early votes, compared with 1,473 for Republican Kevin E. Martin.
Republicans lead in several legislative races
In State Senate District 16, incumbent Republican Marty Harbin was narrowly leading Democrat Sonya Wimberly Hawkins districtwide, with 50.89% of the vote compared with Hawkins’ 49.11%, as of 8 p.m.
Fayette’s early vote showed Harbin receiving 16,913 votes compared with 16,146 for Hawkins.
In State Senate District 6, incumbent Republican Matt Brass was leading Democrat JerMarkus Jacobs districtwide with 61.2% of the vote compared with Jacobs’ 38.8%.
Coweta’s 9:10 p.m. returns showed Brass receiving 26,746 votes compared with 17,923 for Jacobs.
In State House District 73, incumbent Republican Josh Bonner received 5,853 Fayette County early votes compared with 4,796 for Democrat Tim Wilkinson.
Coweta voters also favored Bonner, giving him 6,516 votes compared with 4,526 for Wilkinson.
In State House District 82, incumbent Republican Karen Mathiak was narrowly leading Democrat Anthony Dickson districtwide, with 51.24% of the vote as of 8 p.m. The district includes portions of southern Fayette County and Spalding County. Fayette’s early returns showed Mathiak receiving 4,815 votes compared with 3,546 for Dickson.
Democrats Kenya Wicks, Timoria McQueen Saba, and incumbent Debra Bazemore were unopposed in their respective legislative contests involving Fayette County voters.
Coweta’s House District 70 race remains close
One of the closer contests in Coweta County’s reported results was State House District 70, where Republican Melissa Stuckey received 7,649 votes compared with 7,323 for Democrat Pierre Whatley.
That gave Stuckey a lead of just 326 votes, approximately 51.1% to 48.9%.
In State House District 65, Republican Gordon W. Rolle Jr. led incumbent Democrat Robert Dawson, 2,809 to 1,981.
In District 67, Republican Daniel Cook led incumbent Democrat Lydia Glaize, 3,382 to 1,808.
In Coweta County Commission District 2, incumbent Republican Bill McKenzie led Democrat Amiee Tybor, 6,003 to 3,156.
In County Commission District 3, Republican Dakota Hand Caldwell led Democrat Render A. Godfrey, 5,072 to 3,794.
Fayette County Commission and school board races
In the Fayette County Commission District 3 race, Republican James W. Clifton led Democrat Chandra C. Wright, receiving 6,319 early votes compared with Wright’s 5,042.
Incumbent Democrat Charles Rousseau was unopposed for County Commission District 4.
One of Fayette County’s closest local contests was the Board of Education District 2 race, where incumbent Republican Roy Rabold received 5,684 votes compared with 5,204 for Democrat Ashley Smith.
That gave Rabold an early lead of 480 votes before Election Day ballots were added.
Incumbent Democrat Regina Daigre was unopposed for Board of Education District 4.
Voters in both counties support constitutional amendments
Fayette County’s early voters favored all three statewide constitutional amendments, as well as the local homestead exemption proposals.
The county’s school property tax homestead exemption received 28,247 yes votes compared with 14,877 no votes.
A separate county homestead property tax exemption received 27,508 yes votes compared with 15,498 no votes.
In Fayetteville, voters supported the city’s FLOST homestead exemption proposal, with 4,556 voting yes and 2,634 voting no.
Coweta County voters also supported all three statewide constitutional amendments. Amendment 1 received 25,020 yes votes compared with 18,424 no votes. Amendment 2 received 30,187 yes votes compared with 13,364 no votes, while Amendment 3 received 34,336 yes votes compared with 9,208 no votes.
The results reflect Fayette County’s early vote report available at 8 p.m. and Coweta County’s more recent totals posted at 9:10 p.m. Neither set of figures represents certified final election results.
Readers can follow updated returns through the Georgia Secretary of State election results website, including the Coweta County results page.
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