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Georgia's 7th Congressional District election, 2018

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Georgia's 7th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 9, 2018
Primary: May 22, 2018
Primary runoff: July 24, 2018 (if needed)
General: November 6, 2018
General runoff: January 8, 2019 (if needed)
Pre-election incumbent:
Rob Woodall (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Georgia
Race ratings
Cook Partisan Voter Index (2018): R+9
Cook Political Report: Lean Republican
Inside Elections: Lean Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
See also
Georgia's 7th Congressional District
1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th
Georgia elections, 2018
U.S. Congress elections, 2018
U.S. Senate elections, 2018
U.S. House elections, 2018

Incumbent Rep. Rob Woodall (R) defeated Carolyn Bourdeaux (D) in the general election on November 6, 2018, to represent Georgia's 7th Congressional District.

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. The Democratic Party gained a net total of 40 seats, winning control of the chamber. This race was identified as a 2018 battleground that might have affected partisan control of the U.S. House in the 116th Congress. Heading into the election, the Republican Party was in the majority holding 235 seats to Democrats' 193 seats, with seven vacant seats. Democrats needed to win 23 GOP-held seats in 2018 to win control of the House. From 1918 to 2016, the president’s party lost an average of 29 seats in midterm elections.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced on September 14 that it would provide organizational and fundraising support to Bourdeaux.[2][3] Although Woodall had never received less than 60 percent of the vote in an election, his district was mostly based in Gwinnett County, a suburban majority-minority county that voted Democratic in the 2016 presidential election for the first time since 1976.[4][5] Gwinnett County is one of six reverse-pivot counties that voted for Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016 after voting for John McCain (R) in 2008 and Mitt Romney (R) in 2012. The district also included parts of Forsyth County.

Woodall’s district favored Donald Trump (R) over Clinton 51 percent to 45 percent.[6]

Democratic Party For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
Republican Party For more information about the Republican primary, click here.


Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Georgia District 7

Incumbent Rob Woodall defeated Carolyn Bourdeaux in the general election for U.S. House Georgia District 7 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rob Woodall
Rob Woodall (R)
 
50.1
 
140,443
Image of Carolyn Bourdeaux
Carolyn Bourdeaux (D) Candidate Connection
 
49.9
 
140,010

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 280,453
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Georgia District 7

Carolyn Bourdeaux defeated David Kim in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Georgia District 7 on July 24, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Carolyn Bourdeaux
Carolyn Bourdeaux Candidate Connection
 
52.0
 
7,948
Image of David Kim
David Kim
 
48.0
 
7,348

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.

Total votes: 15,296
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 7

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 7 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Carolyn Bourdeaux
Carolyn Bourdeaux Candidate Connection
 
27.3
 
8,662
✔
Image of David Kim
David Kim
 
26.0
 
8,249
Image of Ethan Pham
Ethan Pham Candidate Connection
 
17.8
 
5,666
Image of Melissa Davis
Melissa Davis
 
13.7
 
4,340
Image of Kathleen Allen
Kathleen Allen
 
11.0
 
3,500
Image of Steve Reilly
Steve Reilly
 
4.2
 
1,335

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.

Total votes: 31,752
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Georgia District 7

Incumbent Rob Woodall defeated Shane Hazel in the Republican primary for U.S. House Georgia District 7 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rob Woodall
Rob Woodall
 
71.9
 
30,450
Image of Shane Hazel
Shane Hazel
 
28.1
 
11,883

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.

Total votes: 42,333
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Candidate profiles

See also: Editorial approach to writing about key campaign messages


Carolyn Bourdeaux, Professor
Carolyn Bourdeaux.jpg

Campaign website Facebook Twitter

Party: Democratic

Incumbent: No

Political office: None

Biography: Bourdeaux earned a bachelor's from Yale University, a master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California, and a Ph.D. in public administration with a focus on public finance from Syracuse University. Her professional experience includes running the Georgia Senate's budget office. At the time of the general election, she was a professor at Georgia State University.[7]

Key messages
  • Bourdeaux said she was motivated to run for Congress after watching her parents struggle to pay for healthcare costs and prescription medication. She advocated for expanding Medicaid and creating a public option for health care.[8]
  • Bourdeaux said she wanted to represent her district in Congress to provide a check on President Trump while "working to reform our democracy to be more inclusive and less beholden to special interests."[9]
  • Bourdeaux said she supported universal preschool, providing K-12 teachers with well-funded salaries, increasing government assistance programs for college students, and tying loan repayments to income.[10]



Rob Woodall, U.S. Representative
Rob Woodall.jpg

Campaign website Facebook Twitter

Party: Republican

Incumbent: Yes

Political office: U.S. Representative (Elected: 2010)

Biography: Woodall graduated from Furman University and received his law degree from the University of Georgia. He was first elected to the U.S. House in 2010.[11]

Key messages
  • Woodall said if he was re-elected, he planned to continue work improving government regulations, changing the tax code, updating international trade, and bettering relationships with other members of Congress to pass legislation.[12]
  • Woodall emphasized his support for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and transportation policies that he said reduced unemployment levels and paid for future toll lanes in Georgia.[13]




Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
Georgia's 7th Congressional District election, 2018, Woodall (R) v. Bourdeaux (D)
Poll Rob Woodall (R) Carolyn Bourdeaux (D)UndecidedMargin of errorSample size
JMC Analytics and Polling/Bold Blue Campaigns
October 13-18, 2018		 49%43%8%+/-4.5500
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Internal polls

Georgia's 7th Congressional District
Poll Poll sponsor Rob Woodall (R) Carolyn Bourdeaux (D)UndecidedMargin of errorSample size
Tulchin Research
August 9-13, 2018		Bourdeaux campaign 44%46%10%+/-4.9400
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.


Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Rob Woodall Republican Party $1,238,079 $1,514,246 $47,287 As of December 31, 2018
Carolyn Bourdeaux Democratic Party $2,943,200 $2,801,216 $141,933 As of December 31, 2018

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.


Satellite spending

Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[14][15][16]

This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.


Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Race ratings: Georgia's 7th Congressional District election, 2018
Race trackerRace ratings
October 30, 2018October 23, 2018October 16, 2018October 9, 2018
The Cook Political ReportLean RepublicanLean RepublicanLean RepublicanLean Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesLean RepublicanLikely RepublicanLikely RepublicanLikely Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallLean RepublicanLean RepublicanLean RepublicanLean Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every two weeks throughout the election season.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+9, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 9 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Georgia's 7th Congressional District the 153rd most Republican nationally.[18]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.85. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.85 points toward that party.[19]

Campaign advertisements

This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.

Republican Party Rob Woodall

Support

"Helping Grow Georgia's Economy," Georgia Chamber of Commerce ad released August 27, 2018
  • Woodall released his first campaign ads on November 2, 2018. He released a TV ad and a similar digital ad. View the digital ad here.

Oppose

"Woodall Voted Against Your Health Care," Bourdeaux ad released October 9, 2018

Democratic Party Carolyn Bourdeaux

Support

"Dignity," Bourdeaux ad released October 26, 2018
"Georgians Deserve Affordable Care," Bourdeaux ad released October 29, 2018
"Lucky," Bourdeaux ad released October 8, 2018
  • Independence USA PAC released an ad supporting Bourdeaux in October. View the ad here.


Debates and forums

  • October 23, 2018: Woodall and Bourdeaux participated in a debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club. Read a roundup of the event here
  • September 17, 2018: Woodall and Bourdeaux participated in a candidate forum. Click here for coverage of the event.

Campaign themes

The campaign themes below were taken from the candidates' 2018 campaign websites.

Carolyn Bourdeaux

CAROLYN ON HEALTH CARE

Our health care system is in an acute crisis. We need affordable, quality health care for all. Our health care system costs significantly more per capita than any other country in the developed world—and the destruction of the Affordable Care Act has real consequences for our community. We can do better and I will fight for a system that puts patients before profits.

My own family struggles with the cost of health care. My mother cared for my aging and very sick father until both recently passed. She couldn't come visit us in Suwanee because all of her income was eaten up paying for medications, including ones to treat my father’s diabetes. Between 2002 and 2013, the price of insulin has tripled, and in 2017, it continued to rise. My parents used to hit their yearly cap for drug insurance in November, in 2017, they started reaching it in July.

Why is the cost increasing? One reason is that Congress has prevented Medicare from using its purchasing power to negotiate a better deal on drug prices. And why have they done this? Because pharmaceutical companies give lots and lots of money to politicians. In 2016, these companies gave $60 million to representatives in Congress.

The decision-making around health insurance and the Affordable Care Act is also incomprehensible to me. Congressman Woodall, the incumbent in the 7th District, voted for a bill that would mean 67,000 fewer people in this district would have health insurance. The bill discriminates against those with pre-existing conditions and would allow insurance companies to avoid covering basic services like mental health, emergency and maternity care.

I talked with doctors who cared for a Gwinnett man who worked as a laborer moving boxes. Because Medicaid wasn't expanded, he didn’t have health insurance. He was suffering from pain in his joints. However, it was only after the pain became so bad that he had lost the use of his hands that he went to see a doctor. He learned he had rheumatoid arthritis. That’s a treatable disease, if caught early. But he had fallen through the cracks of our system and will remain in pain and on disability for the rest of his life.

Let’s be compassionate and fiscally responsible. Let’s expand Medicaid and bring $2.2 billion back to our state every year—keeping more people working and bringing down the financial and human costs of late stage health care. Let’s put a public option on the marketplace and bring down premiums by increasing competition.

CAROLYN ON EDUCATION

Like many families in this district, I deeply value our public schools and public education. I am the mother of a six-year-old who is enrolled in public school in Gwinnett. We must ensure that we support and invest in a world-class education system.

I am the daughter of public school teachers and am on the faculty at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. Georgia State graduates more African American students than any other university in the country, including historically black schools. I am proud to be a part of this effort.

As Governor Deal and President Obama have both observed, our college graduation rate for 24-35-year-olds in Georgia needs to move from 40 percent to 60 percent by 2020. That will take investment across the board, from pre-K through higher education — and job training programs to keep up with a changing economy.

Early childhood education:

I believe that we need to move toward a universal pre-K program, allowing every child, no matter where he or she lives, to receive the same high-level education.

K-12 schools:

We cannot have a world-class education system without our incredible and dedicated teachers. We need to ensure that our K-12 teachers are supported with good salaries and a strong system of professional development. We also need to develop early warning systems that allow us to target and dedicate resources toward students who are in the early stages of facing academic difficulties before these problems escalate.

We also must ensure that every child leaves high school with a clear career pathway that includes the education and skills that will allow them to compete successfully in a global marketplace. That includes investing in apprenticeship and technical education programs because college isn’t right for everyone, and that’s OK.

Higher Education:

Higher education — a key to Georgia’s economic future — is increasingly unaffordable to so many students. We should never be in a situation where a young person thinks they cannot go to college because they cannot afford it.

To do this, we need to support and bolster programs such as Pell grants and supplemental loan programs, and we must create programs where college loan repayments are pegged to income so that students are not dragged down by debt after they graduate.

We should support the expansion of programs like those developed by Georgia State University to help increase student success, including funding for targeted bridge loans to help students who face unexpected fiscal challenges in making payments. We should also expand a college completion early warning system that identifies and quickly intervenes to help students who show early signs of struggling to complete a particular degree program.

CAROLYN ON WOMEN’S HEALTH AND ISSUES

Women make up over 50% of the population but only around 20% of the representatives in Congress. This is reflected in our national policies from women’s health to women’s pay. We need to change this.

Women’s Health: Before the Affordable Care Act passed, my hairdresser, a young woman, couldn’t have a baby because she purchased health care on the individual marketplace and the only plans she could purchase refused to cover maternity care. This is unacceptable. We all have a responsibility for the next generation that will come after us whether we choose to have children or not.

The Affordable Care Act included maternity care and contraceptive coverage as essential medical services that all plans had to cover. The Republican Congress has voted repeatedly to allow insurance companies to remove this coverage. I’m here to fight for women’s health and this includes making sure we have insurance coverage for maternity care and contraceptives.

Choice: I am pro-choice and support the basic framework of Roe v. Wade. I also believe that the government should play no role in a woman making decisions about her own body. We get to this point by supporting organizations such as Planned Parenthood that provide access to contraceptives for women and by making sure that adoption is an accessible option for all women and families.

Comprehensive Paid Family Leave: Giving families time to bond with their newborns, newly adopted children, or to care for a sick family member without facing financial stress is also a policy that I strongly support. The US is the only developed country in the world that does not provide even a modest form of paid family leave. (Source: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/25/kirsten-gillibrand/yes-us-only-industrialized-nation-without-paid-fam/)

We do need to be sensitive to the business implications in the design of such a policy as well as the fiscal implications for the federal budget. However, we have successful models piloted by states that are great for families, are not budget-busters, and have not had a negative impact on business. It can be done.

California has had paid family leave policies since 2004 which provide six weeks of benefits to families and is administered through their disability insurance program. 89% of California employers report that this policy has had no effect or a positive effect on productivity, 91% say it has had no effect or a positive effect on profitability, and not surprisingly, 99% report it has had a positive effect on morale. (Source: http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/content/economics-paid-family-leave)

Equal Pay: Women deserve equal pay for equal work. Currently, women make 80 cents for every dollar a man earns. A black woman makes 63 cents and a Latina only 54 cents. (Source: https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/)

In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act and while women have been making (slow) gains, the goals of the law have not been fully realized. Women of color are even more heavily penalized.

Last fall, the Trump Administration rolled back Obama era protections for women that 1) required paycheck transparency from employers that are federal contractors; 2) restricted use of forced arbitration around pay and sex discrimination and harassment complaints. We need to reverse policies like this and continue to press for pay transparency which will allow more complete enforcement of the Equal Pay Act as well as protecting all workers from employment practices such as the abusive use of binding arbitration provisions.

CAROLYN ON TRANSPORTATION

We need to invest in transit. I’ve heard folks in the 7th district describing their commutes as “soul-sucking.” The congestion and lack of transit options is causing the district to lose businesses who are moving to be closer to Marta. WestRock could have brought 800 jobs here instead of Sandy Springs, but we lack great public rapid transit. Link It’s harming our quality of life, and undermining our home values.

The business community recognizes this and is working on promoting a vision of Gwinnett with links to Marta or Bus Rapid Transit.

We deserve the same federal tax dollars that have been supporting the development of transit systems in other states. It’s time for a federal-state-local partnership to bring some of this money back home.

CAROLYN ON GUN VIOLENCE

We have lost our way as a country with respect to gun policy and it must stop now. As a mother, I keenly feel the grief of parents who have lost their children – all our children from Parkland to Orlando, from Sandy Hook to Las Vegas - and responses such as “arming our teachers” or in any way inviting more guns into our schools is sickening. We must ban bump stocks, restrict civilian access to military style assault weapons, restrict access to high capacity magazines, and make sure we have universal, comprehensive background checks, closing the gun show loophole.

I honor the students from Parkland who are driving this country to action. Our youth have such potential power, and we need to support them in their mission for change. Our children deserve to live in a world where their biggest worry is studying for a math test, not whether they'll live through the week or watch classmates and teachers die in front of them.

I grew up with guns. My father owned a gun. My grandmother shot squirrels off her bird-feeder from her upstairs porch with a bb gun. My grandfather passed on to my uncle a wonderful historic gun collection, and many members of my family are hunters. But we were taught from an early age that guns are weapons and owning a gun is a serious responsibility – it’s time that our country recognize this as well.

CAROLYN ON REFORM

Healthy democracies listen and respond to the needs of their citizens. Our current system is dangerously skewed to benefit special interests and extreme partisans. Bipartisan solutions to pressing issues like healthcare are stuck in political limbo—damaging lives and ruining futures. Link

The polarization is worsened by the way our districts are drawn. Incumbent Congressman Rob Woodall himself admits, “It’s gerrymandering that makes these things noncompetitive, right?” He acknowledges that “Gwinnett County, if it was one district, it would be an incredibly competitive district.” [link] We must insist on district lines that are non-partisan, instead of protecting incumbent politicians.

Special interests have too much power in our political system and the public has too little. Overturning Citizens United is an uphill battle, but we must restrict corporate influence on our elections. And we must prioritize small-dollar donors through public-financing matches.

CAROLYN ON EQUITY

Every child deserves access to a world class education regardless of zip code. That includes good pre-K options that provide the learning foundation for opportunities later in life.

Equal Pay is critical. I am so grateful for the progress made by my mother's generation, but we have to keep moving forward and keep making progress. We must close just the gender gap overall, but also the even larger gap that still exists for women of color.

Criminal justice reform is long over due. As a society we claim to believe in equality under the law, now is the time to stand up to the private prison lobby and make this value a reality.

We need to provide basic access to health care for everyone. I have heard so many horror stories of people in this district that lost their job and ability to provide for their family simply because they don't have lack of access to health screenings and other basic care.

These stories include a construction worker who had a stroke that could have been prevented by taking free blood pressure medication if he'd only know he was at risk and a man who lifted boxes for a living who got rheumatoid arthritis and couldn't afford to see a doctor until it was too late to save his joints. These men and so many others who were independant hard working citizens have now lost the dignity of work. They are now on disability with expensive healthcare needs paid for by the state. This is a cycle that we can and need to end.

CAROLYN ON JOBS & THE ECONOMY

ur economy here in Georgia’s 7th district should reflect our increasingly diverse and international population. To move our economy in the right direction, we need to put people first by investing in education, apprenticeships and job training programs, ensuring that health insurance is reasonably priced while providing access to quality care, giving our small businesses the tools they need to thrive, providing better public transit options, investing in our infrastructure, and ensuring a living wage.

PROVIDING JOB TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: I never want to hear that a young person can’t go to college or learn a trade because he or she can’t afford it. We know education is the key to the 21st economy, and college, career training and apprenticeships are essential to upward mobility. However, the costs of higher education have skyrocketed, placing it out of reach for far too many. To combat these rising price tags, we must invest more in aid programs like Pell grants and supplemental loans. For those out of school, college loan repayments should be pegged to income so that graduates can pursue their dreams and not be dragged down by debt.

For some, college is not the right option, and that is OK; we should invest in job training and apprenticeship programs so that everyone has a clear career pathway that leads to a job that pays a living wage. A better educated and trained workforce will also result in a stronger economy.

INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE:

Let’s be honest, most of us living here in Gwinnett and Forsyth face a “soul-sucking commute.” The time we spend stuck in traffic could be spent on so many other things, including being with family. Our district must invest in infrastructure to attract businesses and preserve our quality of life.

In Gwinnett in particular, the lack of public transit means businesses are looking elsewhere. Workers struggle to have a reliable way to get to work. Investing in transit is both the right thing to do and will grow our economy. If we continue to ignore our traffic problems, businesses will continue to avoid the area, like two large corporations, WestRock (article) and NCR (article), both of whom left the district and took 2,450 jobs with them, to be closer to MARTA.

Better public transit options not only make Gwinnett and Forsyth more attractive to companies and homeowners, but also provide new jobs. The Gwinnett County Commission’s latest vote on a contract with MARTA and initiating a referenda on funding for transit is a good first step, but this vote should be held in November, not in a special election next March (link).

INVESTING IN CLEAN ENERGY:

By investing in clean energy like solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, we can not only keep our environment clean, but we can also create jobs and stay competitive in future markets. Right now, our country currently provides over $21 billion in subsidies for fossil fuel technology (link) – these subsidies need to be repealed and reinvested in tax credits for clean energy technologies. We also need to support research and development around clean energy. At the very least, clean energy technology should compete on a level playing field.

PAYING A LIVING WAGE:

Our economy cannot continue moving forward until our workers earn a living wage. The costs of rent, gas, and food increase every year, yet wages have not grown as they should. We need to increase the federal minimum wage to account for inflation and also pair this with the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, administered as a reverse payroll tax, to ensure that allhard-working individuals are able to achieve a living wage, without over-burdening small businesses.

A COMMON-SENSE TAX POLICY:

The Trump Administration’s recently passed tax bill is not really a tax cut so much as a cash advance on our national credit card. The legislation increases our national debt by $2 trillion – to $21 trillion overall in 2018 (Congressional Budget Office, The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2018 to 2028. Deficit increases from the tax act are discussed on p. 106. Debt numbers in Table 4-4, p. 87 (link))

Worse, the debt-financed benefits of the tax bill largely go to the wealthiest Americans and big businesses (link). Over the next ten years, 50 percent of the benefit goes to the top 5 percent of earners (link). When the individual income tax portions of the bill expire in 2027, 83 percent of the benefits will go to the top 1 percent of households (link)!

House Speaker Paul Ryan and the current Congress are proposing to cut Social Security and Medicare, claiming we “don’t have enough money.” We cannot place the weight of paying for the tax bill on our seniors. While I do support a decrease in the corporate income tax rate, this current tax cut is simply unaffordable and should not be paid for by middle-class seniors.

We can do better. We should provide tax cuts, like the earned-income tax credit, for the middle-class and working Americans, to ensure that anyone who works hard can make enough to have a decent standard of living and support their family. We can do all of this and find a way to pay for it. We can start by rooting out the special interests and eliminating their special tax breaks.

ROOTING OUT THE SPECIAL INTERESTS:

To truly have an economy that works for everyone, we need to give the power back to the people and take it away from the special interests. Too many members of Congress, like my opponent, answer first to the corporate PACs that write their checks, not the people who live and work in their districts. I have taken a pledge to not accept any corporate PAC money because I know the interests of us here in the 7th district must always and will always come first. When we cut back on the advantages special interests receive in our current economic environment, we will create a fairer and stronger economy for everyone.

CAROLYN ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Just as we judge prior generations for their failure to recognize human rights, I think that future generations will judge us for our failure to address the environment and climate change. I have a 6 year old son and I’ve started to think about what his future is going to look like.

One prediction is that given the rate of the bleaching of our coral reefs, we will lose 90% of our coral reefs by 2050 and that this will produce a catastrophic destruction of ocean life and this also will produce a massive disruption of our food chain and loss of fisheries. My son will be in his 30s when this happens.

We already face increased flooding on our coasts, but by 2100 experts predict we will lose most of southern Florida and coastal cities around the world will be underwater. We will either need to make massive investments in infrastructure to stave off flooding or will have to deal with huge population resettlement. My son will be old – late eighties - by the time the full effects are felt but the growing impact will affect his day to day life in ways we cannot fully predict.

Meanwhile, our government is subsidizing the destruction of our planet. The US provides $20.5 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry each year. I see a place to start to balance our budget. We must reinstate the Paris Climate Accord which calls for an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 and align our energy policy and investments to meet these goals.

CAROLYN ON IMMIGRATION

We know that our diverse future and global enterprise depends on talented people from all over the world joining our community. We need a system that recognizes the value of immigrants, while protecting all workers with fair labor practices.

We are long overdue for comprehensive immigration reform that recognizes the realities of our communities and labor markets. The security of our border and our country is best served when we focus enforcement resources on criminals who mean us harm. And we urgently need a path to citizenship for the Dreamers, who came here as children and are invaluable members of our communities.

CAROLYN ON VETERANS & MILITARY FAMILIES

From a young age, my parents instilled the value of service as a key factor in my life, something I’ve never forgotten. My grandfather served in World War II, and one of our close family friends growing up was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for 8 years. I am grateful to them and to all veterans who decided to give back and serve their country.

The 7th district is home to tens of thousands of veterans and service members, and we need to do everything we can to thank them for serving us and keeping us safe. We, as a country and as a community, must do better to serve and repay them for the sacrifices they have made.

When service members return home from tours of duty and make the transition into civilian life, we must provide them with accessible, quality health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Trump Administration has failed to fully fund the VA and give it the tools needed to be successful. The Administration’s lackluster approach to the VA is taking its toll. Too many veterans fail to get the care they need - that is unacceptable. One veteran who cannot get the care he or she needs is one too many.

We also must do more to support our veterans through the transition back into civilian life. This sometimes requires sufficient access to mental health programs. The suicide rate among veterans has been increasing, constituting an alarming trend. Our veterans and service members face many difficulties in the transition back into civilian life, and we must ensure every service member has the care he or she needs to transition effectively.

A key part of this service-to-civilian transition is access to employment and educational opportunities. Our veterans are some of the hardest-working, disciplined and motivated potential employees in the world, yet veteran unemployment levels remain too high. Veterans and service members deserve tools and financial help to return to school and begin/continue their education, and we must give them the education benefits they deserve and have been promised.

CAROLYN ON LGBTQ+ RIGHTS

In the past 10 years, our country has taken immense steps forward to ensure equal rights for members of our LGBTQ+ communities. I am proud to have worked for Senator Ron Wyden when he became one of the first Members of Congress to come out in favor of marriage equality.

While we have taken major steps forward, including the Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality, we still have a long way to go. I will always oppose discriminatory bills aimed at stripping rights away from the LGBTQ+ community. I oppose the Trump Administration's efforts to ban transgender individuals from being allowed to serve in the military, and I will fight to ensure anyone who wants to serve and make that sacrifice has the chance to do so.[20]

Rob Woodall

Woodall's campaign website had not been updated with campaign themes past February 2016 as of September 27, 2018.

Social media

Twitter accounts

Note: As of October 2018, Rob Woodall's campaign Twitter account was inactive.

Facebook accounts

Click the icons below to visit the candidates' Facebook pages.

Democratic Party Carolyn Bourdeaux Facebook

Republican Party Rob Woodall Facebook

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Five of 159 Georgia counties—3.14 percent—are pivot counties. These are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 pivot counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Baker County, Georgia 8.68% 0.57% 1.07%
Dooly County, Georgia 2.05% 6.98% 3.53%
Peach County, Georgia 2.91% 7.48% 6.75%
Quitman County, Georgia 10.92% 9.04% 7.90%
Twiggs County, Georgia 1.58% 8.64% 6.97%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Georgia with 50.8 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 45.6 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Georgia voted Democratic 63.33 percent of the time and Republican 36.67 percent of the time. Georgia voted Republican in every presidential election from 2000 to 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Georgia. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[21][22]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 64 out of 180 state House districts in Georgia with an average margin of victory of 45.5 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 74 out of 180 state House districts in Georgia with an average margin of victory of 42.3 points. Clinton won 14 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 116 out of 180 state House districts in Georgia with an average margin of victory of 36.6 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 106 out of 180 state House districts in Georgia with an average margin of victory of 36.8 points. Trump won four districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.


District history

2016

See also: Georgia's 7th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Rob Woodall (R) defeated Rashid Malik (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Neither candidate faced a primary opponent on May 24, 2016.[23][24]

U.S. House, Georgia District 7 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRob Woodall Incumbent 60.4% 174,081
     Democratic Rashid Malik 39.6% 114,220
Total Votes 288,301
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

2014

See also: Georgia's 7th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 7th Congressional District of Georgia held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Rob Woodall (R) defeated challenger Thomas Wight (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, Georgia District 7 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRob Woodall 65.39% 113,557
     Democratic Thomas Wight 34.61% 60,112
Total Votes 173,669
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

2012

On November 6, 2012, Rob Woodall (R) won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Steve Reilly (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, Georgia District 7 General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRob Woodall Incumbent 62.2% 156,689
     Democratic Steve Reilly 37.8% 95,377
Total Votes 252,066
Source: Georgia Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010

On November 2, 2010, Rob Woodall won election to the United States House. He defeated Doug Heckman (D) in the general election.[25]

U.S. House, Georgia District 7 General Election, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRob Woodall 67.1% 160,898
     Democratic Doug Heckman 32.9% 78,996
Total Votes 239,894

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Georgia heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

State executives

State legislature

  • Republicans controlled both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly. They had a 114-64 majority in the state House and a 37-19 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

2018 elections

See also: Georgia elections, 2018

Georgia held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics

Demographic data for Georgia
 GeorgiaU.S.
Total population:10,199,398316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):57,5133,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:60.2%73.6%
Black/African American:30.9%12.6%
Asian:3.6%5.1%
Native American:0.3%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.1%3%
Hispanic/Latino:9.1%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:85.4%86.7%
College graduation rate:28.8%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$49,620$53,889
Persons below poverty level:21.1%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Georgia.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2017, Georgia's three largest cities were Atlanta (pop. est. 470,000), Columbus (pop. est. 200,000), and Augusta (pop. est. 200,000).[26][27]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Georgia from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Georgia Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Georgia every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Georgia 2000-2016
Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2016 Republican Party Donald Trump 51.1% Democratic Party Hillary Clinton 45.9% 5.2%
2012 Republican Party Mitt Romney 53.3% Democratic Party Barack Obama 45.5% 7.8%
2008 Republican Party John McCain 52.2% Democratic Party Barack Obama 47.0% 5.2%
2004 Republican Party George Bush 58.0% Democratic Party John Kerry 41.4% 16.6%
2000 Republican Party George Bush 55.0% Democratic Party Al Gore 43.2% 11.8%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Georgia from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Georgia 2000-2016
Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2016 Republican Party Johnny Isakson 54.8% Democratic Party Jim Barksdale 41.0% 13.8%
2014 Republican Party David Perdue 52.9% Democratic Party Michelle Nunn 45.2% 7.7%
2010 Republican Party Johnny Isakson 58.3% Democratic Party Mike Thurmond 39.0% 19.3%
2008 Republican Party Saxby Chambliss 49.8% Democratic Party Jim Martin 46.8% 3.0%
2004 Republican Party Johnny Isakson 57.9% Democratic Party Denise Majette 40.0% 17.9%
2002 Republican Party Saxby Chambliss 52.8% Democratic Party Max Cleland 45.9% 6.9%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Georgia.

Election results (Governor), Georgia 2000-2016
Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2014 Republican Party Nathan Deal 52.8% Democratic Party Jason Carter 44.9% 7.9%
2010 Republican Party Nathan Deal 53.0% Democratic Party Roy Barnes 43.0% 10.0%
2006 Republican Party Sonny Perdue 57.9% Democratic Party Mark Taylor 38.2% 19.7%
2002 Republican Party Sonny Perdue 51.4% Democratic Party Roy Barnes 46.3% 5.1%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Georgia in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Georgia 2000-2016
Year Republicans Republicans (%) Democrats Democrats (%) Balance of power
2016 Republican Party 10 71.4% Democratic Party 4 28.6% R+6
2014 Republican Party 10 71.4% Democratic Party 4 28.6% R+6
2012 Republican Party 9 64.3% Democratic Party 5 35.7% R+4
2010 Republican Party 8 61.5% Democratic Party 5 38.5% R+3
2008 Republican Party 7 53.8% Democratic Party 6 46.2% R+1
2006 Republican Party 7 53.8% Democratic Party 6 46.2% R+1
2004 Republican Party 7 53.8% Democratic Party 6 46.2% R+1
2002 Republican Party 8 61.5% Democratic Party 5 38.5% R+3
2000 Republican Party 8 72.7% Democratic Party 3 27.3% R+5

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Georgia Party Control: 1992-2025
Eleven years of Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-one years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The registration deadline was extended to October 16, 2018, in Clay, Grady, Randolph, and Turner counties by executive order of Gov. Nathan Deal in response to Hurricane Michael.
  2. ↑ Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "Majority Makers," accessed April 27, 2018
  3. ↑ DCCC, "DCCC Announces Latest Round of Exciting Red to Blue Candidates," September 14, 2018
  4. ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "It’s official: Gwinnett County turns purple," November 8, 2016
  5. ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Hillary Clinton won Gwinnett. How did your neighbors vote?," November 10, 2016
  6. ↑ Southern Political Report, "Georgia’s Sixth and Seventh Districts host competitive races," April 16, 2018
  7. ↑ The Hill, "Bourdeaux wins Georgia Dem runoff, in latest win by female candidates," July 24, 2018
  8. ↑ Carolyn Bourdeaux 2018 campaign website, "Carolyn on Health Care," accessed September 27, 2018
  9. ↑ Carolyn Bourdeaux 2018 campaign website, "Home," accessed September 27, 2018
  10. ↑ Carolyn Bourdeaux 2018 campaign website, "Carolyn on Education," accessed September 27, 2018
  11. ↑ Rob Woodall 2016 campaign website, "Meet Rob," accessed September 27, 2018
  12. ↑ Forsyth County News, "Woodall to seek re-election for District 7 seat," Updated March 25, 2018
  13. ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Handel, Woodall try to focus campaigns on themselves instead of Trump," September 21, 2018
  14. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed September 22, 2015
  15. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed September 22, 2015
  16. ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," November 6, 2015
  17. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "FILING FEC-1285603, Independence USA PAC," accessed November 1, 2018
  18. ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  19. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  20. ↑ Carolyn Bourdeaux 2018 campaign website, "Issues," accessed September 27, 2018
  21. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  22. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
  23. ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed March 12, 2016
  24. ↑ The New York Times, "Georgia Primary Results," May 24, 2016
  25. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
  26. ↑ United States Census Bureau, "Quick Facts - Georgia," accessed January 3, 2018
  27. ↑ Georgia Demographics, "Georgia Cities by Population," accessed January 3, 2018
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