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Georgia state legislative special elections, 2019
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In 2019, five special elections was called to fill vacant seats in the Georgia General Assembly. Click here to read more about the special elections.
House special elections called:
- District 5: January 8
- District 176: February 12
- District 28: April 9
- District 71: September 3
- District 152: November 5
How vacancies are filled in Georgia
If there is a vacancy in the Georgia General Assembly, the vacant seat must be filled by a special election. If the vacancy occurs during a legislative session, the governor must declare a special election no later than 10 days after the vacancy happens. If the vacancy occurs after the regular legislative session held during the first year of the term of office for members, the governor may order a special election at any time but no later than 60 days before the November general election. If the vacancy occurs between 60 days before the November general election and the next legislative session, the governor is required to order a special election within 10 days.[1]
The special election must be held no less than 30 days and no later than 60 days after the governor calls for the election. The counties representing the vacant district are responsible for conducting the election.[1]
See sources: Georgia Code § 21-2-544
About the legislature
The Georgia General Assembly is Georgia's state legislature. It consists of the lower House of Representatives and the upper State Senate. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2018 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).
| Georgia State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 6, 2018 | After November 7, 2018 | |
| Democratic Party | 19 | 21 | |
| Republican Party | 37 | 35 | |
| Total | 56 | 56 | |
| Georgia House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 6, 2018 | After November 7, 2018 | |
| Democratic Party | 64 | 75 | |
| Republican Party | 114 | 105 | |
| Vacancy | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 180 | 180 | |
Special elections
Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:
January 8, 2019
| Georgia House of Representatives District 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for Georgia House of Representatives District 5 was called for January 8, 2019. A runoff took place on February 5, 2019. The candidate filing deadline was December 7, 2018.[2] The seat became vacant after the death of John D. Meadows III (R) on November 12, 2018.[3] General runoff electionSpecial general runoff election for Georgia House of Representatives District 5Matt Barton defeated Jesse Vaughn in the special general runoff election for Georgia House of Representatives District 5 on February 5, 2019.
General electionSpecial general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 5The following candidates ran in the special general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 5 on January 8, 2019.
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February 12, 2019
| Georgia House of Representatives District 176 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for Georgia House of Representatives District 176 was called for February 12, 2019. A runoff was scheduled for March 12, 2019. The candidate filing deadline was January 8, 2019.[4] The seat became vacant after Jason Shaw (R) was appointed to serve the remainder of H. Doug Everett's term on the Georgia Public Service Commission, beginning January 1, 2019.[5] General runoff electionSpecial general runoff election for Georgia House of Representatives District 176James Burchett defeated Franklin Patten in the special general runoff election for Georgia House of Representatives District 176 on March 12, 2019.
General electionSpecial general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 176Franklin Patten and James Burchett advanced to a runoff. They defeated Barbara Seidman and Barbara Griffin in the special general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 176 on February 12, 2019.
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April 9, 2019
| Georgia House of Representatives District 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for Georgia House of Representatives District 28 was called for April 9, 2019.[6] The April 9 special election was the third election between Dan Gasaway (R) and Chris Erwin (R). The regularly scheduled primary on May 22, 2018, was deemed inconclusive due to ballot errors, so a new primary took place on December 4, 2018. The results of the December 2018 special election were also deemed inconclusive, so a judge ruled that a new election should be held.[7] Republican primary electionSpecial Republican primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 28
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September 3, 2019
| Georgia House of Representatives District 71 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for Georgia House of Representatives District 71 was called for September 3, 2019. A runoff was scheduled for October 1, 2019. The filing deadline was July 19, 2019.[8] The seat became vacant after David Stover (R) resigned on June 25, 2019. In his resignation letter, Stover cited wanting to be able to spend time with his family.[9] General runoff electionSpecial general runoff election for Georgia House of Representatives District 71Philip Singleton defeated Marcy Sakrison in the special general runoff election for Georgia House of Representatives District 71 on October 1, 2019.
General electionSpecial general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 71Philip Singleton and Marcy Sakrison advanced to a runoff. They defeated Jill Prouty and Nina Blackwelder in the special general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 71 on September 3, 2019.
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November 5, 2019
| Georgia House of Representatives District 152 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for Georgia House of Representatives District 152 was called for November 5, 2019.[10][11] A runoff was scheduled for December 3, 2019. The candidate filing deadline was September 18, 2019.[12] The seat became vacant after Ed Rynders (R) resigned his seat on September 5, 2019, citing health concerns.[13] General runoff electionSpecial general runoff election for Georgia House of Representatives District 152Bill Yearta defeated Jim Quinn in the special general runoff election for Georgia House of Representatives District 152 on December 3, 2019.
General electionSpecial general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 152Jim Quinn and Bill Yearta advanced to a runoff. They defeated Mary Egler and Tyler Johnson in the special general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 152 on November 5, 2019.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Candidate survey
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The following state legislative candidates responded to Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click candidate names to read their answers.
Georgia House of Representatives District 71
Special elections throughout the country
In 2019, 77 state legislative special elections were held in 24 states. Between 2011 and 2018, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.
Breakdown of 2019 special elections
In 2019, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:
- 47 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
- 21 due to a retirement
- 6 due to the death of the incumbent
- 1 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
- 2 due to an election being rerun
Impact of special elections on partisan composition
The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:
- 39 Democratic seats
- 38 Republican seats
The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2019. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2018, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2017 and 2018, Democrats had a net gain of 19 seats.
Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.
| Partisan Change from Special Elections (2019) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of Special Election | After Special Election | |
| Democratic Party | 39 | 36 | |
| Republican Party | 38 | 40 | |
| Independent | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 77 | 77 | |
Flipped seats
In 2019, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.
Seats flipped from D to R
- Minnesota State Senate District 11 (February 5)
- Connecticut State Senate District 6 (February 26)
- Connecticut House of Representatives District 99 (February 26)
- Kentucky State Senate District 31 (March 5)
- New Jersey State Senate District 1 (November 5)
Seats flipped from R to D
- Pennsylvania State Senate District 37 (April 2)
- Missouri House of Representatives District 99 (November 5)
Seats flipped from R to I
State profile
- See also: Georgia and Georgia elections, 2019
Partisan data
The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019
Presidential voting pattern
- Georgia voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Congressional delegation
- Following the 2018 elections, both U.S. senators from Georgia were Republicans.
- Nine of Georgia's 14 U.S. representatives were Republicans and five were Democrats.
State executives
- Republicans held nine of Georgia's 11 state executive offices. The other two offices were nonpartisan.
- Georgia's governor was Republican Brian Kemp.
State legislature
- Republicans controlled the Georgia State Senate with a 35-21 majority.
- Republicans controlled the Georgia House of Representatives with a 105-75 majority.
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 |
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| Demographic data for Georgia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 10,199,398 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 57,513 | 3,531,905 |
| 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. | ||
See also
- State legislative special elections, 2019
- State legislative special elections, 2018
- State legislative special elections, 2017
- State legislative special elections, 2016
- Georgia State Legislature
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The State of Georgia, "Official Code of Georgia," accessed January 23, 2024 (Statute 21-2-544)
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "CALL FOR SPECIAL ELECTION FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 5," accessed December 11, 2018
- ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "The Jolt: John Meadows, chairman of House Rules, dies on eve of special session," November 13, 2018
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "CALL FOR SPECIAL ELECTION FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 176," accessed January 8, 2019
- ↑ Governor Nathan Deal, Office of the Governor, "Deal to appoint Shaw to Public Service Commission," November 20, 2018
- ↑ Fox 5, "Fight for House Dist. 28 heading to State Supreme Court," February 12, 2019
- ↑ WNEG, "Judge Rules In Gasaway’s Favor, Orders A Third Special Election For Hd 28," February 1, 2019
- ↑ The Newnan Times-Herald, "HD 71 candidate qualifying begins, Anders withdraws," July 18, 2019
- ↑ The Citizen, "Stover resigns House seat," June 26, 2019
- ↑ Walb.com, "Special election ordered to replace Rynders in Ga. House," September 11, 2019
- ↑ Albany Herald, "Special election set for House District 152 seat," September 10, 2019
- ↑ Albany Herald, "Four qualify for nonpartisan House District 152 seat," September 18, 2019
- ↑ Albany Herald, "Rep. Ed Rynders announces resignation from House District 152 seat," September 5, 2019
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