2012 elections review: Georgia voters send incumbents packing
August 1, 2012
By Ballotpedia's Congressional and State legislative teams
The primary season continued yesterday with elections in Georgia. Voters made their presence known in legislative primaries, knocking off 11 incumbents -- the most of any state that has held primaries so far. That brings this year's running total to 91 legislative incumbents who have lost a primary.
Here's a recap of how many incumbents were defeated, and which districts will head to runoff elections for Congress, State Senate and State House.
Department of Justice sues over voting deadlines
On June 29, 2012, the Department of Justice filed a suit in federal court against the state of Georgia, alleging that service members, their family members and overseas civilian voters won’t have time to vote by absentee ballot in runoff elections, if they are required.[1] According to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (dead link) (UOCAVA), states must transmit all validly requested ballots to UOCAVA voters at least 45 days before an election, unless a hardship exemption is obtained, for which Georgia failed to file.[1] However, this conflicts with the timeline for runoff elections, in which the primary runoff, by law, must be held 21 days after the regular or special primary election, and if a runoff is required after the Nov. 6 general election, it will be held 28 days later, on Dec. 4, which also wouldn’t provide the required 45 days.[1]
As part of the lawsuit, the Department of Justice is asking Georgia to "extend the ballot receipt deadline to Aug. 31 for these voters, to send ballots by express delivery as soon as possible before the Aug. 21 runoff election, and inform UOCAVA voters no later than July 7 of their right to request a state write-in absentee ballot or their official absentee ballot for any runoff election by downloading it from the Internet, by email, or by fax."[1]
| Contested Primaries in Georgia -- July 31, 2012 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. House (14 seats) |
State Legislature (236 seats) | ||||
| Total Democratic Contested Primaries | 4 (28.57%) | 33 (13.98%) | |||
| Total Republican Contested Primaries | 8 (57.14%) | 45 (19.08%) | |||
Congress
Georgia had a total of 14 seats on the ballot in 2012. A total of 43 candidates filed to run, made up of 11 Democratic challengers, 20 Republican challengers, and 12 incumbents. A total of 308 U.S. House seats have held primaries. Thus far, 56.66% of possible primaries have been contested. Georgia's contested figure of 42.86% (12 out of 28 possible party primaries) is less competitive than the national average.
Three runoff elections will take place on August 21, 2012.[2] The 2nd District, 9th District and 12th District will all hold runoff elections after no candidate secured more than 50% of the vote.[3]
In the 9th District candidates Doug Collins and Martha Zoller will face off in the runoff election. In 12th District candidate Lee Anderson will advance to the runoff, and in Georgia's 2nd District candidates Rick Allen and John House were the top two vote getters and will advance to the runoff election.
Georgia's 12th District will hold a recount of the votes prior to the runoff to secure the second top vote getter in the election after the race was too close to call.[4]
In Georgia's 6th District, a recount will take place in the Democratic primary between Jeff Kazanow and Robert Montigel after the race was too close to call.[3]
No incumbents were defeated in the primary.
| Members of the U.S. House from Georgia -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 5 | 5 | |
| Republican Party | 8 | 9 | |
| Total | 13 | 14 | |
State legislature
Heading into the election, the Republican Party held a majority in both the Georgia State Senate and the Georgia House of Representatives.
There were 236 total legislative seats with elections in 2012 -- 56 Senate seats and 180 House seats.
There were 33 (13.98%) contested Democratic primaries and 45 (19.07%) contested Republican primaries. Thus, there were 78 (16.53%) races with at least two candidates on the ballot. The 16.53% figure of total contested primaries in Georgia is lower than the current national contested average of 19.38% for states that have had filing deadlines.
Eleven incumbents were defeated in the Georgia state legislature yesterday, adding up to a combined 73 years in office.
The 11 incumbents defeated were:
- Johnny Grant (R), Georgia State Senate District 25.
- Charlice Byrd (R), Georgia House of Representatives District 20.
- Doug McKillip (R), Georgia House of Representatives District 115.
- Glenn Baker (D), Georgia House of Representatives District 78
- Judy Manning (R), Georgia House of Representatives District 32.
- Keith Heard (D), Georgia House of Representatives District 114.
- Kip Smith (R), Georgia House of Representatives District 129.
- Ralph Long, III (D), Georgia House of Representatives District 61.
- Rashad Taylor (D), Georgia House of Representatives District 55.
- Yasmin Neal (D), Georgia House of Representatives District 75.
- Steve Davis (R), Georgia House of Representatives District 109.
Senate
Other races of note in the Senate:
District 7: Tyler Harper defeated State Representative Mark Hatfield and Rodney Vickers for the seat being vacated by Greg Goggans (R). Harper will now face off against Democratic candidate Gene Mitchell in the general election.[5]
District 15: Incumbent Ed Harbison, who first assumed office in 1992, rebuffed a challenge in the Democratic primary from Reginald Pugh. This election marks the third time Harbison defeated Pugh in a Democratic primary for the seat; this match-up also occurred in 2006 and 2008.[6] Harbison will advance to the general election to take on David Brown.- District 18: Incumbent Cecil Staton is locked in a close race with Spencer Price in the Republican primary. Only about 200 votes separated the candidates, with the advantage going to Staton, with 98 percent of precincts reporting.[7] Late in the campaign, Price filed an ethics complaint against Staton, alleging that Staton participated in, and benefited from, a conspiracy to divert funds from the Georgia Republican Senatorial Trust to his campaign.[8]
- District 25: Incumbent Johnny Grant, who first joined the Senate in 2005, was defeated by challenger Burt Jones. Jones will face Democratic candidate Darrell Black in the general election.
- District 26: Incumbent Miriam Paris, who first assumed office in 2011, was forced into a runoff by challenger David E. Lucas, Sr. in the Democratic primary. A third candidate in the primary, Irvin Martinez, fell well short of advancing to the runoff. The Democratic nominee will face Republican Bobby Gale.
- District 27: Incumbent Jack Murphy, who first assumed office in 2007, barely survived a primary challenge from Steve Voshall, defeating him by only about 120 votes in the first count.[7] Barring a recount or changes in the results, Murphy will face no opposition in the fall and keep his seat.
- District 31: Incumbent Bill Heath, who first assumed office in 2005, was forced into a runoff by challenger Bill Carruth, with fellow contender J.K. Rogers finishing a distant third. No Democratic candidate is running for this seat.
- District 35: Incumbent Donzella James, who first assumed office in 1993, fended off challenges from Detrius Hill Jones and Cory J. Lynch, and will now face Republican Benjamin Brooks in the general election.
- District 38: Incumbent Horacena Tate, who first assumed office in 1998, defeated Reginald Crossley in the Democratic primary and now faces no opposition in the general election.
- District 44: Incumbent Gail Davenport, who first assumed office in 2011, could be forced into a primary runoff with Gail Buckner. Marcus E. Davis trails in the three way race, which will likely decide who holds the seat for the next two years.[7]
- District 55: Incumbent Gloria Butler, who first assumed office in 1998, defeated Mark Williams in the Democratic primary and does not face major party opposition in the general election.
House
Other races of note in the House:
- District 1: The open seat drew attention from three candidates, John Deffenbaugh, Mike Nowlin, and Alan Painter, who battled for the nomination in the Republican primary. No candidate managed to obtain more than 50 percent of the vote necessary to win the nomination, resulting in a runoff election between the top two vote getters, John Deffenbaugh and Alan Painter. The winner of the runoff primary on August 21st will take on Democratic candidate Thomas McMahan in the general election.
- District 4: Three Republican candidates battled for the open seat. Bruce Broadrick defeated Dennis Mock, and David W. Renz in the primary. No Democratic candidates filed to run in either the primary or general, so Broadrick is almost guaranteed the District 4 seat.
- District 9: Republican candidate Kevin K. Tanner defeated Clint Smith to win the open seat.
- District 28: Republican candidates and top vote getters Dan Gasaway and Jon Heffer will face off in a runoff election to decide the seat.
- District 41: Diana Eckles and Michael Smith will face off in a runoff election to decide the Democratic candidate who will advance to the general election to take on Republican candidate Phil Daniell.
- District 62: Marvin Arrington and Ladawn Blackett Jones will advance to the runoff election to decide the district seat.
- District 66: Bob Snelling and Michael Miller will advance to the runoff election to decide the winner of the Republican nomination. The winner will face Kimberly Alexander (D) in the general election.
- District 92: Tonya P. Anderson and Doreen Williams will advance to the runoff election to decide the district seat.
- District 113: Sharon Sawyer and incumbent Pam Dickerson will advance to a runoff election and will decide the district seat. Dickerson has served in this office since 2011.
- District 139: Patty Bentley and Thomas Coogle will face off in the runoff election to decide the winner of the district seat.
- District 167: Jeff Chapman defeated John Tuten, and will replace Roger Lane (R) in the District 167 seat. Lane vacated the seat for a Superior Court judgeship in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit.[9] Chapman previously represented the 3rd District of the Georgia State Senate from 2005-2011.[9]
Runoff elections on August 21, 2012[10] will take place for eight districts where no candidate managed to get more than 50 percent of the vote necessary to win in the primary election.[11] The eight districts are District 1, District 28, District 41, District 62, District 66, District 92, District 113, and District 139.
| Georgia State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 20 | 18 | |
| Republican Party | 36 | 38 | |
| Total | 56 | 56 | |
| Georgia House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 63 | 60 | |
| Republican Party | 114 | 119 | |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | |
| Vacancy | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 180 | 180 | |
See also
|
- United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2012
- Georgia State Senate elections, 2012
- Georgia House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
- Georgia House of Representatives Unofficial Results
- Georgia State Senate Unofficial Results
- U.S. House elections in Georgia Unofficial Results
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Marine Corps Times, "Justice sues Georgia over voting deadlines" accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Election Dates" accessed July 31, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Associated Press, "Results," accessed July 31, 2012
- ↑ WSAV "Runoff in Ga.'s 12th District too close to call" accessed July 31, 2012
- ↑ Florida Times Union, "Southeast Georgia legislative races: 4 step into gap for Senate District 7" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ Macon.com, "Incumbent faces familiar rival" accessed July 17, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 C-SPAN, "Election Results from the Associated Press Georgia - Summary Vote Results," accessed July 31, 2012
- ↑ WMAZ 13 "Opponent Spencer Price Files Ethics Complaint Against Cecil Staton" accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Florida Times Union, "Southeast Georgia legislative races: 4 step into gap for Senate District 7" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Elections Calendar" accessed July 31, 2012
- ↑ C-SPAN, "Election Results from the Associated Press Georgia - Summary Vote Results," accessed July 31, 2012
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