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What's on the ballot today? - July 22, 2014

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July 22, 2014

By Ballotpedia staff

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The Republican nominee for a United States Senate seat, where more than $9 million in campaign funds were raised, and control of the troubled DeKalb County School District, which will see an incumbent versus incumbent battle, are at stake in today's Georgia primary runoff election.

In the north east, Connecticut is holding a special election for the District 122 seat in the Connecticut House of Representatives.

Although he led the field in the Republican primary to replace retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss, former Dollar General CEO and political neophyte David Perdue may struggle to win the runoff. Rep. Jack Kingston led Perdue in all eight polls conducted since the primary, although Perdue did pull within the margin of error in two of the more recent polls. Kingston also holds the financial advantage after raising $6,180,841 through the most recent reporting period. This nearly doubled Perdue's $3,378,195, despite the former businessman's significant personal wealth.[1][2] Several key endorsements have fallen Kingston's way, as well, including support from defeated primary candidates Karen Handel and Reps. Phil Gingrey and Tom Price.[3][4][5]

Whomever triumphs in the runoff election will face Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn, who won an overwhelming victory in the primary with 75 percent of the vote. Nunn enjoys high name recognition as the daughter of former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn (D).[6] Nunn has polled competitively against both Kingston and Perdue. Neither of the Republican hopefuls have led Nunn in a poll since May 2014, although several of the more recent polls have fallen within the margin of error.

Other Georgia congressional elections include runoffs for three U.S. House seats. Both the Democratic and the Republican nominees for the GA-01 seat will be determined by runoff elections. The seat was vacated as a result of Rep. Jack Kingston running for the U.S. Senate seat. Rep. Paul C. Broun's unsuccessful bid for the same seat opened up his GA-10 seat, as well. The winner of the Republican primary runoff will compete with Democratic nominee Ken Dious in the November general election. No Democrats filed for the GA-11 seat opened by Rep. Phil Gingrey's Senate campaign, which means that the winner of the Republican primary runoff will win the seat uncontested in November.

At the opposite end of the ballot, nine Georgia school districts are holding runoff elections for a total of 13 seats. Eight of the races for those seats include incumbents campaigning for re-election, but one race in particular features two incumbents battling for the same seat.

In the DeKalb County School District, District 4 incumbent Jim McMahan and District 8 incumbent Karen Carter are competing for the District 4 seat. The school board is shrinking from nine to seven seats as part of the election, which eliminates Carter's existing seat and places her in the redrawn District 4. Carter was one of the six school board members appointed by Governor Nathan Deal (R) in March 2013. Governor Deal previously dismissed six elected board members in February 2013 after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the district under "accredited probation" status. This probation stemmed from an audit that revealed issues with board governance, unethical practices and fiscal mismanagement.[7][8] On January 21, 2014, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced that the district was no longer under probation and had been moved up to "accreditation warned" status.[9]

In Connecticut, Arlene Liscinsky (D) is facing Ben McGorty (R) for the District 122 seat vacated by former Rep. Lawrence Miller (R), who died in office after serving since 1991. Both candidates were nominated by their political party instead of through a primary election. The Connecticut House of Representatives is solidly Democratic with a ratio of 97 representatives compared to just 53 Republican officeholders, so the result of this special election will not shift the balance of power in that governing body.[10]

Connecticut

See also: Connecticut elections, 2014

State legislature

Georgia

See also: Georgia elections, 2014

Congress

School boards

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jack Kingston 2014 Summary reports," accessed November 12, 2013
  2. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "David Perdue 2014 Summary reports," accessed November 12, 2013
  3. ↑ Online Athens, "Phil Gingrey endorses Jack Kingston for Senate," June 5, 2014
  4. ↑ The Hill, "Tom Price endorses Kingston in Georgia," May 30, 2014
  5. ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Karen Handel to endorse Jack Kingston in Georgia Senate race," May 27, 2014
  6. ↑ POLITICO, "Likely Ga. hopeful Michelle Nunn to meet with Obama," July 11, 2013
  7. ↑ CBS Atlanta, "Governor Deal Suspends DeKalb School Board Members," February 25, 2013
  8. ↑ Governor Nathan Deal - Office of the Governor, "Deal names new members of DeKalb County school board," March 13, 2013
  9. ↑ The Augusta Chronicle, "Deal praises DeKalb County schools, no longer on probation," January 21, 2014
  10. ↑ Connecticut Post, "Slate set for special state House election," June 15, 2014
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