Voters make their choices for Georgia House, Senate seats
ATLANTA - Democrats toppled two Republican incumbents in the Georgia state House, but won’t narrow the Republican majority as much as they once hoped.
With four races still uncalled Wednesday, Republicans have 99 of the 180 House seats, while Democrats have 78. If all the candidates leading Wednesday win, Republicans would hold 100 seats and Democrats 80. But candidates in two of those races lead by fewer than 100 votes, meaning those elections could be headed to recounts.
Republicans held a 102-78 lead when voting began. GOP incumbents Mesha Mainor and Ken Vance lost to Democratic opponents, but Democratic efforts to unseat three more Republican incumbents in Atlanta’s northern suburbs were falling short. That’s a win for Republicans, who will avoid the headaches of a significantly smaller majority, and for Gov. Brian Kemp, whose political organization pumped $2 million into helping House GOP candidates.
It was the first election after a court ordered lawmakers to draw new lines to create more Black-majority districts. With Black voters strongly ing Democrats, that created some Democratic opportunities in the House. But GOP mapmakers redrew Georgia’s 14 Congressional Districts and 56 state Senate districts, resulting in little meaningful partisan competition for those offices. The partisan balance in the state Senate remained at 33 Republicans and 23 Democrats, as it was before the election, after all incumbents won.
Democratic leaders itted they couldn’t win a majority in the lower chamber of the General Assembly this year. But the minority party hoped to show progress toward a majority after Republicans held the line in 2022, as Kemp swept to reelection.
Here’s a look at results for seats representing the CSRA:
State Senate District 23
- Republican Incumbent Max Burns won District 23′s seat over Democrat Shayna Boston. As of 9:47 p.m., Burns had received 62.4% of votes while Boston had received 37.6%.
State House District 131
- Republican Rob Clifton took the seat for District 131 against Democrat Heather White. As of 8:56 p.m., Clifton had received 65.1% of votes over White’s 34.9%.
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State House District 128
- Democrat Incumbent Mack Jackson and Republican Tracy Wheeler compete over District 128′s seat. We are still waiting on results from this race.
State House District 126
- L.C. Myles won the District 126′s seat over William Harris. As of 8:40 p.m., Myles had received 75.1% of votes compared to Harris’ 24.9%.
State House District 125
- Republican Incumbent Gary Richardson took District 125′s seat against Democrat Kay Turner. As of 8:45 p.m., Richardson had received 64.8% of votes over Turner’s 35.2% of votes. Richardson previously served on the Columbia County Board of Commissioners for eight years.
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State House District 123
- Republican Incumbent Rob Leverett won District 123′s seat over Democrat Hope Beard. As of 9:07 p.m., Leverett had received 73.4% of votes compared to Beard’s 26.6%. Leverett has served as Georgia State Representative since 2020.
State House District 158
- Republican Incumbent Butch Parrish won District 158′s seat against Madeline Ryan Smith. AS of 8:50 p.m., Parrish had received 77.4% of votes while Smith had received 22.6%. Parrish has been in office since 1985.
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