Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2026

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Georgia's 8th Congressional District
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 6, 2026
Primary: May 19, 2026 Primary runoff: June 16, 2026 General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Georgia
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Pending 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, 2026
See also
Georgia's 8th Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th Georgia elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

All U.S. House districts, including the 8th Congressional District of Georgia, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Georgia District 8

The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Austin Scott (R)
		James Cooper III (D)
		Kelly Esti (D)
		Justin Laster (D)
	Submit photo	Justin Lucas (D)
		Vinson Watkins (R)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

James Cooper III

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I am a Lizella resident, was born in Macon, and am a graduate of Mercer University. I also attended seminary at Earlham School of Religion, and served three years as a pastor. I am a musician, an actor, a former small business owner, a political activist, and a cancer survivor. I am a working-class American who understands firsthand the issues that so many Americans face today. I know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck, struggle to make ends meet, go without healthcare, have to choose between paying rent, paying other bills, and having food to eat, have already insufficient wages garnished for student loan debt, and to be one missed paycheck away from financial devastation. I am passionate about creating social and economic equality and justice for all people. I believe in showing Love, compassion, empathy, and respect to all people, and treating all people fairly. As a U.S. Representative, I will work to bring the American people together for the common good, restore rights that have been taken away from people, restore integrity and rule of law to all branches of our government, and to promote civility and good will between Americans of all backgrounds. I will work to to empower working-class Americans, and to make the U.S. into a true land of opportunity, where ALL people are able to live the American dream."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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I am running for Congress because the people of Georgia’s 8th Congressional District deserve to have the opportunity to support and vote for a working-class progressive who will work for the good of the American people, not just corporations and billionaires. The only way we are ever going to change things and make the system work for the average American is for working-class Americans to organize, and run for office ourselves, and for working-class Americans to support and vote for those candidates. We cannot rely on millionaires and billionaires, establishment politicians, or a privileged political class to do the job for us.

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Establishment politicians don’t work for us. They never have and they never will. They work for their billionaire and corporate donors. The super rich and those who live privileged lifestyles will never truly understand what it is like to be a middle-class, working-class, or poor American. If the majority of Americans want elected officials who are going to actually work for us, then we are going to have to empower ourselves. I am running to represent Georgia’s 8th Congressional Dist. I encourage other working-class progressive Americans to make the decision now to run for Senate, House of Representatives, Governors, and other state and local offices. Together, we can change our government and make it finally work for the American people.

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We need leaders who will work to establish Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, thriving wages for all American workers, a Federal Jobs Guarantee, Universal Basic Income, equal rights for ALL Americans, protect and expand Social Security and benefits for disabled veterans, and restore women’s reproductive rights and healthcare rights for transgender youth. We need leaders who will stand up to Trump and his dangerous agenda of hate, spite, revenge, and greed, his disregard for the U.S. Constitution, his support for war and genocide, and his cruel policies towards working-class and poor Americans, women, consumer protection, fair immigration policy, people of color, immigrants, transgender youth, and anyone else he doesn’t like.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Georgia

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

James Cooper III (D)

I am running for Congress because the people of Georgia’s 8th Congressional District deserve to have the opportunity to support and vote for a working-class progressive who will work for the good of the American people, not just corporations and billionaires.

The only way we are ever going to change things and make the system work for the average American is for working-class Americans to organize, and run for office ourselves, and for working-class Americans to support and vote for those candidates. We cannot rely on millionaires and billionaires, establishment politicians, or a privileged political class to do the job for us.

Establishment politicians don’t work for us. They never have and they never will. They work for their billionaire and corporate donors. The super rich and those who live privileged lifestyles will never truly understand what it is like to be a middle-class, working-class, or poor American. If the majority of Americans want elected officials who are going to actually work for us, then we are going to have to empower ourselves.

I am running to represent Georgia’s 8th Congressional Dist. I encourage other working-class progressive Americans to make the decision now to run for Senate, House of Representatives, Governors, and other state and local offices. Together, we can change our government and make it finally work for the American people.

We need leaders who will work to establish Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, thriving wages for all American workers, a Federal Jobs Guarantee, Universal Basic Income, equal rights for ALL Americans, protect and expand Social Security and benefits for disabled veterans, and restore women’s reproductive rights and healthcare rights for transgender youth.

We need leaders who will stand up to Trump and his dangerous agenda of hate, spite, revenge, and greed, his disregard for the U.S. Constitution, his support for war and genocide, and his cruel policies towards working-class and poor Americans, women, consumer protection, fair immigration policy, people of color, immigrants, transgender youth, and anyone else he doesn’t like.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

James Cooper III (D)

Quality healthcare for All, thriving wages for All, job creation, employment as a right, protecting labor, Universal Basic Income, protecting and expanding Social Security, education as a right, civil rights and equality, care for wounded/disabled vets, housing and homelessness, consumer protection, fair immigration policy, environmental justice, sustaining our planet through renewal energy, reforming our criminal justice system, police reform, common sense gun safety, campaign/election reform, voting rights, fair ballot access, expanding the Supreme Court and restoring it back to a legitimate body that upholds the Constitution, protecting whistleblowers, fairness in media, progressive taxation, anti-trust enforcement, peace and diplomacy.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

James Cooper III (D)

Jesus, Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

James Cooper III (D)

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and the book Christianizing the Social Order by Walter Rauschenbusch.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

James Cooper III (D)

Integrity, compassion, empathy, and a belief in fairness and equality for ALL people.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

James Cooper III (D)

Integrity, compassion, empathy, a belief in fairness and equality for ALL people, being a work-class American and being able to relate to other working-class Americans.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

James Cooper III (D)

To be a servant of the American people, work for the American people, stay informed, hold oneself accountable to the American people, specifically to the people of your district, and to personally keep the people of your district informed about what you are doing to serve them in your position.

What is your favorite book? Why?

James Cooper III (D)

The Bible. I am greatly inspired by Jesus.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Austin Scott
• Justin Laster
• Vinson Watkins

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Austin Scott	Republican Party	$272,538	$271,102	$981,601	As of June 30, 2025
James Cooper III	Democratic Party	$20	$0	$20	As of June 30, 2025
Kelly Esti	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Justin Laster	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Justin Lucas	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Vinson Watkins	Republican Party	$0	$63	$138	As of June 30, 2025
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. 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. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General 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.
• 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.

Race ratings: Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	9/23/2025	9/16/2025	9/9/2025	9/2/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

This section will contain information on ballot access related to this state's elections when it is available.

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

2024

See also: Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2024

Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (May 21 Democratic primary)

Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (May 21 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Georgia District 8

Incumbent Austin Scott defeated Darrius Butler in the general election for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Austin Scott (R)	68.9	231,547
		Darrius Butler (D)	31.1	104,434

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 335,981
= 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

• Justin Laster (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8

Darrius Butler defeated Vinson Watkins in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Darrius Butler	71.6	15,755
		Vinson Watkins	28.4	6,236

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,991
= 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

• Justin Laster (D)

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 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Austin Scott	100.0	59,537

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 59,537
= 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.

2022

See also: Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Georgia District 8

Incumbent Austin Scott defeated Darrius Butler in the general election for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Austin Scott (R)	68.6	178,700
		Darrius Butler (D)	31.4	81,886

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 260,586
= 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

• Michelle Cope (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8

Darrius Butler advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Georgia District 8 on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Darrius Butler	100.0	30,655

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 30,655
= 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.

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 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Austin Scott	100.0	90,426

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 90,426
= 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

• Mike Reece (R)

2020

See also: Georgia's 8th Congressional District election, 2020

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
✔		Austin Scott (R)	64.5	198,701
		Lindsay Holliday (D)	35.5	109,264
		James Cooper III (G) (Write-in)	0.0	48

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 308,013
= 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

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
✔		Lindsay Holliday	100.0	44,493

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 44,493
= 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.

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
✔		Austin Scott	89.8	73,671
	Submit photo	Robert Vance Dean	5.7	4,692
		Daniel Ellyson	4.5	3,668

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 82,031
= 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.

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

See also

Georgia	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
Georgia congressional delegation Voting in Georgia Georgia elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

Georgia's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Jon Ossoff (D)

Raphael Warnock (D)

Representatives

District 1

Earl Carter (R)

District 2

Sanford Bishop (D)

District 3

Brian Jack (R)

District 4

Hank Johnson (D)

District 5

Nikema Williams (D)

District 6

Lucy McBath (D)

District 7

Rich McCormick (R)

District 8

Austin Scott (R)

District 9

Andrew Clyde (R)

District 10

Mike Collins (R)

District 11

Barry Loudermilk (R)

District 12

Rick Allen (R)

District 13

David Scott (D)

District 14

Marjorie Greene (R)

Republican Party (9)

Democratic Party (7)

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