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Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2020

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2022
2018
Georgia's 8th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 6, 2020
Primary: June 9, 2020
Primary runoff: August 11, 2020
General: November 3, 2020
General runoff: January 5, 2021

Pre-election incumbent:
Austin Scott (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Georgia
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
Georgia's 8th Congressional District
U.S. Senate1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th
Georgia elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 8th Congressional District of Georgia, held elections in 2020.

Incumbent Austin Scott won election in the general election for U.S. House Georgia District 8.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
March 6, 2020
June 9, 2020
November 3, 2020


Heading into the election the incumbent was Republican Austin Scott, who was first elected in 2010.

Georgia's 8th Congressional District is located mainly in south central Georgia and extends north through the middle portion of the state. Atkinson, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brooks, Colquitt, Cook, Dodge, Houston, Irwin, Jones, Lanier, Monroe, Pulaski, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Turner, Twiggs, Wilcox, Wilkinson, and Worth counties as well as portions of Bibb and Lowndes counties are included in the district.[1]

Post-election analysis

The table below compares the vote totals in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. House election for this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

Presidential and congressional election results, Georgia's 8th Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 37 35.5
Republican candidate Republican Party 62 64.5
Difference 25 29

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Georgia modified its absentee/mail-in voting and candidate filing procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

  • Candidate filing procedures: The petitioning deadline for minor-party and unaffiliated candidates was extended to August 14, 2020. The petition signature requirement for independent and minor-party candidates was reduced to 70 percent of their original numbers.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

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Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Georgia District 8

Incumbent Austin Scott defeated Lindsay Holliday and James Cooper III in the general election for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Austin Scott
Austin Scott (R)
 
64.5
 
198,701
Image of Lindsay Holliday
Lindsay Holliday (D) Candidate Connection
 
35.5
 
109,264
Image of James Cooper III
James Cooper III (G) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
48

Total votes: 308,013
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8

Lindsay Holliday advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on June 9, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lindsay Holliday
Lindsay Holliday Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
44,493

Total votes: 44,493
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 8

Incumbent Austin Scott defeated Robert Vance Dean and Daniel Ellyson in the Republican primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on June 9, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Austin Scott
Austin Scott
 
89.8
 
73,671
Robert Vance Dean
 
5.7
 
4,692
Image of Daniel Ellyson
Daniel Ellyson Candidate Connection
 
4.5
 
3,668

Total votes: 82,031
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

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.[2][3]

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 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+15, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 15 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Georgia's 8th Congressional District the 81st most Republican nationally.[4]

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 0.89. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.89 points toward that party.[5]

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[6] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[7] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Austin Scott Republican Party $836,256 $730,669 $666,530 As of December 31, 2020
Lindsay Holliday Democratic Party $7,480 $5,220 $210 As of September 30, 2020
James Cooper III Green Party $8,542 $8,528 $15 As of December 31, 2020

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. 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.


Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[8]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[9][10][11]

Race ratings: Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

District election history

2018

See also: Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Georgia District 8

Incumbent Austin Scott won election in the general election for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Austin Scott
Austin Scott (R)
 
99.7
 
198,152
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
564

Total votes: 198,716
(100.00% precincts reporting)
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

No Democratic candidates ran in the primary.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8

Incumbent Austin Scott advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Austin Scott
Austin Scott
 
100.0
 
41,467

Total votes: 41,467
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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2016

See also: Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Austin Scott (R) defeated James Neal Harris (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Scott defeated Angela Hicks in the Republican primary, while Harris faced no opposition. The primary elections took place on May 24, 2016.[12][13]

U.S. House, Georgia District 8 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngAustin Scott Incumbent 67.6% 173,983
     Democratic James Neal Harris 32.4% 83,225
Total Votes 257,208
Source: Georgia Secretary of State


U.S. House, Georgia District 8 Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngAustin Scott Incumbent 77.8% 34,919
Angela Hicks 22.2% 9,988
Total Votes 44,907
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

2014

See also: Georgia's 8th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 8th Congressional District of Georgia held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Austin Scott (R) won an uncontested general election.

U.S. House, Georgia District 8 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngAustin Scott Incumbent 100% 129,938
Total Votes 129,938
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

See also

External links

Footnotes


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
Republican Party (9)
Democratic Party (7)