Sarah Riggs Amico
Sarah Riggs Amico (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Georgia. She lost in the Democratic primary on June 9, 2020.
Amico was a Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. Amico lost the general election on November 6, 2018, after advancing from the primary on May 22, 2018.
Elections
2020
See also: United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 (Perdue vs. Ossoff runoff)
United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 (June 9 Democratic primary)
United States Senate election in Georgia, 2020 (June 9 Republican primary)
General runoff election
General runoff election for U.S. Senate Georgia
Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent David Perdue in the general runoff election for U.S. Senate Georgia on January 5, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jon Ossoff (D)  | 50.6 | 2,269,923 |
 | David Perdue (R) | 49.4 | 2,214,979 | |
| Total votes: 4,484,902 | |||
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General election
General election for U.S. Senate Georgia
Incumbent David Perdue and Jon Ossoff advanced to a runoff. They defeated Shane Hazel in the general election for U.S. Senate Georgia on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Perdue (R) | 49.7 | 2,462,617 |
| ✔ | | Jon Ossoff (D) | 47.9 | 2,374,519 |
 | Shane Hazel (L) | 2.3 | 115,039 | |
| Total votes: 4,952,175 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Darrell McGuire (Independent)
- Clifton Kilby (Independent)
- Elbert Bartell (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Georgia
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Georgia on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jon Ossoff | 52.8 | 626,819 |
 | Teresa Tomlinson | 15.8 | 187,416 | |
 | Sarah Riggs Amico | 11.8 | 139,574 | |
 | Maya Dillard Smith | 8.8 | 105,000 | |
 | James Knox | 4.2 | 49,452 | |
 | Marckeith DeJesus | 3.9 | 45,936 | |
| Tricia Carpenter McCracken | 2.7 | 32,463 | ||
| Total votes: 1,186,660 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Akhenaten Amun (D)
- Harold Shouse (D)
- Elaine Whigham Williams (D)
- Ted Terry (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Georgia
Incumbent David Perdue advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Georgia on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Perdue | 100.0 | 992,555 |
| Total votes: 992,555 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- James Jackson (R)
- Michael Jowers (R)
2018
General election
General election for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
Geoff Duncan defeated Sarah Riggs Amico in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Geoff Duncan (R) | 51.6 | 1,951,738 |
| Sarah Riggs Amico (D) | 48.4 | 1,828,566 | |
| Total votes: 3,780,304 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
Geoff Duncan defeated David Shafer in the Republican primary runoff for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia on July 24, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Geoff Duncan | 50.2 | 279,276 |
 | David Shafer | 49.8 | 277,523 | |
| Total votes: 556,799 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
Sarah Riggs Amico defeated Triana Arnold James in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sarah Riggs Amico | 55.2 | 278,662 |
 | Triana Arnold James | 44.8 | 225,758 | |
| Total votes: 504,420 | |||
| = 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 Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
David Shafer and Geoff Duncan advanced to a runoff. They defeated Rick Jeffares in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Shafer | 48.9 | 268,221 |
| ✔ | | Geoff Duncan | 26.7 | 146,163 |
 | Rick Jeffares | 24.4 | 134,047 | |
| Total votes: 548,431 | |||
| = 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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Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sarah Riggs Amico did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Amico’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Healthcare The healthcare debate can seem complicated, but it comes down to this: No one should be poor because they’re sick, and no one should be sick because they’re poor. That’s why Sarah believes that quality, affordable health care is a human right, and no one in this country should go without treatment or access to the care they need. WHY DOES SARAH BELIEVE THIS?
WHAT HEALTHCARE POLICIES WILL SARAH SUPPORT AND PRIORITIZE IN THE US SENATE? 1. Protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) made huge inroads to reforming our healthcare system, but the Trump administration has worked to dismantle the law entirely. Unchecked by Republicans like David Perdue, the Trump administration has supported a federal lawsuit to throw out the Affordable Care Act—including its protections for tens of millions of Americans with pre-existing medical conditions. In the U.S. Senate, Sarah will work to strengthen the ACA, ensure protections for Americans with pre-existing medical conditions, and restore federal funding to support the ACA exchanges that provide healthcare to more than 20 million Americans. 2. Expand Medicaid. Sarah supports expanding the safety net provided by Medicaid, which ensures poor and low-income Americans have access to health insurance. 3. Lower the age to qualify for Medicare. Lowering the age for Medicare eligibility would introduce a younger, frequently healthier population into the popular insurance program for America’s seniors. This would drive cost efficiencies and expand the safety net for America’s retirees. 4. Create a public option. Allowing Americans to buy into Medicare or Medicaid can introduce stabilizing revenue into these public insurance programs, increase price competition in the private insurance markets, and provide more Americans with healthcare coverage. A public option would increase competition—and lower prices—for private insurance. The public option would also uncouple health insurance from employment for millions of Americans, enabling workers in the gig economy to access stable, quality health insurance. Allowing Americans to keep their private insurance if they choose to, while providing a viable public option alternative, is the next step to creating better health outcomes for lower costs in America’s healthcare system. 5. But does Sarah support “Medicare for All”? Sarah will support the best policy to ensure every American is covered. Americans need increased coverage now, and a public option is the fastest, most efficient way to rapidly increase the number of insured Americans. Sarah also supports dramatically expanding the safety net, increasing the number of families eligible for Medicaid, and lowering the qualifying age for Medicare. 6. Prescription drug prices. Lowering prescription drug prices must be a priority in the U.S. Senate. Medicare and Medicaid should be allowed to negotiate for competitive prices—just as public health systems from around the world have done for years. Access to generic drugs for American consumers must be protected, and price gouging for life-saving drugs like insulin must be made illegal. 7. Corporate accountability for the opioid crisis. Tackling health insurance is just part of the battle for quality, affordable health care. Sarah believes we have to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for the devastation experienced by many families due to irresponsible and illegal off-label marketing of prescription drugs that fueled America’s opioid crisis. Settlements from these businesses should be used to pay for robust addiction treatment programs. Economy and Workers Rights The American economy is letting working families down – benefiting the very wealthiest at the expense of the working and middle class. That is why unions matter so much. Because it’s not you against the world; it’s all of us. When working people stand together, we have power—power to negotiate for higher wages, power to negotiate for better health care, and the power to change the system. More and more people right now are recognizing the power of collective action. The labor movement is having a moment. Sarah has steadfastly stood by our brothers and sisters in labor. That is why she received the first labor endorsement in this race—and an additional four more since. She remains the only candidate in the race with the support of labor unions. In an industry that used to have more than 40 union suppliers in the 1980s, her family’s company remains one of only two union suppliers remaining in 2020. Sarah has always fought for the men, women, and families she employed to make sure they have quality health care, benefits, and retirement plans. The current economic crisis, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, is worsening the burdens of America’s working families—from affordable health insurance to fair wages to growing unemployment. It’s never been more important that Georgians elect a Senator who will go to bat for working people. That’s what Sarah has done her entire career, and it’s exactly what she’ll do in the U.S. Senate. When Sarah is elected, she will bring the fight for working families to the Senate. She supports raising the minimum wage so that workers can provide for their families. Sarah also supports the PRO Act to give power back to working people so they can share in the profits they work so hard to create. She will fight to increase career and technical training opportunities and deliver in-demand skills to students at no cost to them. And Sarah will fight for trade agreements that actually protect American workers and enforce labor standards abroad. Free trade only works for America if it’s fair, and that means putting American workers on a level playing field with other countries. Investing in people matters. It’s possible. And it creates growth—the kind of sustained growth and prosperity that lifts families into their version of the American Dream, just like Sarah’s grandparents and parents did for their families. The same kinds of investments in working families will create growth and prosperity for America that lasts not just for the next election cycle, but for generations to come. PRIORITIES FOR WORKING FAMILIES:
Preventing Gun Violence As a mother of two young children, Sarah is heartbroken by the tragedy that has befallen so many families across our country due to gun violence. But she doesn’t want to stop at thoughts and prayers; Sarah wants to take action so that no parent, spouse, sibling, or child has to lose a loved one again because of lax gun control laws. That means we have to pass universal background checks and close loopholes that allow violent criminal offenders, domestic abusers and those who are mentally ill access to firearms. We institute checks for car sales or opening a bank account; a background check is the least we can do to make sure we prevent violent offenders from acquiring a gun. More than 90% of Americans support background checks, and it’s time for the Senate to pass this long overdue legislation. Sarah believes there is no place for weapons of war in the hands of civilians. Lastly, women who are abused are more affected by gun violence than others. They are five times more likely to be killed if their abuser owns a gun. We must pass federal red flag laws, and close the boyfriend loophole that allows domestic abusers and stalkers with prior convictions access to firearms. Further, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) must be reauthorized by the Senate, immediately. Mitch McConnell and David Perdue have failed to pass this life saving legislation so we can keep firearms out of the hands of abusers. Women have paid for this inaction with their lives. As a U.S. Senator, Sarah will vote to reauthorize VAWA, close the boyfriend loophole, implement universal background checks, and support red flag laws. Environment & Climate Crisis For too long, politicians have failed to listen to scientists and security experts when it comes to our changing climate. Rising sea levels and increasingly powerful storms threaten our coastal residents and their local economies, critical infrastructure, and military bases. Sarah supports the principles underlying the Green New Deal and believes that climate change is an existential threat to Americans’ health, safety and prosperity. Once elected to the Senate, Sarah will be proactive in working with scientists and engineers to direct public resources to combating climate change and increasing public awareness of the dangers of climate change. Sarah will center facts, science, and data in the environmental policies she supports. She will work to reverse the Trump administration’s devastating rollbacks to laws that protect Americans’ access to clean water and clean air. This a threat that will require an all-of-the-above approach with the support of workers, the business community, scientists, and climate change activists. Criminal Justice Reform One of the few successful case studies of bipartisan legislation has been around criminal justice reform. Sarah applauds the efforts of Senate Democrats and Republicans in passing the First Step Act, which helps inmates successfully return to society after serving their sentence. It also reduces some sentences for certain low-level, nonviolent offenders while preserving important law enforcement tools to tackle criminal enterprises. But that is just a first step and we need to go even further. We have to end cash bail, promote community policing programs, and expand access to mental health care. Sarah also supports decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana. By doing so, we can lower our prison populations, save taxpayer dollars, focus policing on more serious crimes, and begin closing the racial gap in drug arrests. Successful criminal justice reform in America must address the following:
Immigration Georgia’s children are growing up in an era where the Republican candidates for Governor tell them they have more to fear from their neighbors than from a candidate driving around the state in a “Deportation Bus.” It is time to end this hate-filled rhetoric from politicians who are doing nothing more than inflaming divisions in our nation—especially in a moment when we need leaders who will bring us together. Leviticus 19:34 says, “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Families belong together. One of Sarah’s first acts as Senator would be to reunite the families separated by this administration through their callous and destructive policies towards refugees asylum-seekers. We must shut down the detention centers where thousands of children, even newborns, have been separated from their parents and left to sleep on cold floors. Sarah supports policies that comply with international law with respect to asylum-seekers and refugees. And she will prioritize America’s commitment to human rights and the dignity of every individual in our immigration policies. We have a broken immigration system that has been made only worse by this administration. Sarah supports protecting DREAMers from deportation. She also believes that strong border security has to be accompanied by comprehensive immigration reform. Sarah is the proud wife of a naturalized American citizen. She knows our immigrant communities have been a vibrant part of our nation — and our economy — for centuries. As a Senate, she will be a champion for fixing America’s broken immigration system. Voting Rights Voter suppression was rampant across Georgia in 2018. Republicans refuse to acknowledge the bizarre anomaly of the extraordinary undervote in the race for Lieutenant Governor. They have refused—point blank—to investigate the matter, despite what experts considered wildly suspicious results from the voting machines. This is par for the course as they have stubbornly denied the experiences of Georgians, as well as the data. But this time around, Georgians are going to be even more aggressive about demanding our leaders take election protection and security seriously. Sarah supports legislation such as the Honest Ads Act and the Election Security Act, which will work towards making our elections safer and more transparent. These pieces of legislation are being held up by Senate Republicans, which only plays into the hands of those who want to undermine America’s democracy. As a U.S. Senator, Sarah will prioritize fully restoring the Voting Rights Act and its protections for historically disenfranchised voters. It’s critical that we protect both the security of our elections and every eligible voter’s right to vote. She supports statehood for Washington DC so that the more than 700,000 residents there can have access to the same representation other US citizens do in both the US Senate and the House of Representatives. Currently, Georgia Republicans are treating the coronavirus pandemic as another opportunity to further their agenda of voter suppression. For Sarah, the health and safety of Georgians is always paramount. Sarah supports a universal vote-by-mail plan to expand access to the polls and ensure every Georgian exercises their constitutional right. This includes fully funding access to ballot boxes, mailing ballot requests to all eligible voters, and providing pre-paid postage on ballots, so that Georgians who are unable to acquire stamps do not need to be concerned that their ballot won’t be counted. After the 2018 election, Sarah continued traveling around the state talking about voting rights, access to democracy, and the voter suppression we witnessed last year. This issue goes to the heart of our democracy, and she will continue to be a vocal advocate for ending suppression and guaranteeing the right to vote for all eligible Georgians. Women's Rights It is 2020, and women are still being treated like second class citizens, particularly women of color. Women are the backbone of our economy, our families, and our country. We should be recognized as such and take steps to ensure efforts to deny us our rights, our opportunities, and our progress are blocked. Sarah supports a woman’s right to choose without exception. She has been pro-choice all of her life and considers choice not just as a political issue, but a personal one. Republican efforts to outlaw choice through back-door state legislation and efforts to defund Planned Parenthood must be stopped in their tracks, and Sarah will fight any effort that makes it harder for women – and men – to access reproductive health care. She will always stand up for not just access to reproductive health care, but reproductive freedom, rights, and justice. She will also fight to immediately repeal the Hyde Amendment, which particularly punishes women of color. As a young mother who also worked full time, Sarah knows the importance of paid family leave for millions of families. She supports Senator Gillibrand’s FAMILY Act, a plan that would guarantee 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents and caregivers. Women are still not paid the same as their male counterparts, which is why we need to aggressively fight for equal pay justice. As a female business executive, Sarah has experienced pay discrimination first-hand, and she is firmly committed to ensuring that her daughters grow up in a world that values their labor, skills, education, and experience, and pays them accordingly. Legislation that protects women who seek equal pay, punishes employers who attempt to circumvent the law, and gives women the tools they need to be paid a fair and equal wage, is sorely needed, especially for women of color, and Sarah will be a vocal advocate for such legislation. Sarah supports the full ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, a critical step in protecting many of the hard-fought gains women have made in recent generations. National Security, International Affairs, and Veterans This administration, along with Republican Senators, has endangered our country through its reckless foreign policy and funding decisions. Trump and his Senate enablers, including David Perdue, have turned their backs on our allies who have sacrificed their lives in our war against terrorism and are withholding security aid to others for personal gain. Sarah will keep and support a multilateral foreign policy that works with our allies to make America safer, rather than turn our backs to those who help us. The relationship between the United States and the state of Israel has been a hallmark of Middle East diplomacy and global security for decades. Sarah knows that this partnership must remain strong in order to make the world a better, safer, and more prosperous place, as well as to ensure the safety and security of the state of Israel. Sarah believes that the United States should be fully committed to a two-state solution with a demilitarized Palestinian state that co-exists peacefully with the state of Israel based on the 1967 borders with mutually agreed upon land swaps. Peace in the region will be greatly aided by an agreement that guarantees the security of an independent and secure Palestine as well as an independent and secure Jewish state. Tens of thousands of veterans today are homeless, and thousands of veterans commit suicide every year. With VA centers all across the country in dire straits, it’s past time that we make sure that veterans who have served our country receive all the support and treatment they need. What message are we sending to the next generation of soldiers if we can’t take care of those who have returned home after their tours of duty? Georgia features one of the largest active military populations in the nation and is home to nearly 700,000 veterans. Sarah sides with the overwhelming majority of military veterans who believe the answer to improved care lies in strengthening the VA, not privatizing their healthcare. This would start with addressing the nearly 50,000 vacancies within the VA system — which the Inspector General has cited as “a root cause for many of the problems in veterans’ care” — and expanding medical services for our growing female veteran population. After years of undervaluing diplomacy, we need a fully funded and staffed State Department that brings balance back to our foreign policy apparatus and places diplomacy and development on par with defense. Furthermore, after nearly 19 years of war, Sarah knows it is time for Congress to heed the rising bipartisan call to replace the outdated Authorization for the Use of Military Force. Education Sarah is a proud graduate of public schools, the granddaughter of a public school teacher, and the proud parent to two children in public elementary school. She knows the value of public education, and she supports robust investments in our nation’s schools. The circumstances of your birth should not determine your future, and every child in Georgia should have access to quality public education. From daycare to early childhood education through high school and college, we owe it to our next generation to prepare them for the future. This conversation starts with paying teachers the salaries that reflect the essential professionals that they are. If we’re serious about giving our children the best opportunities in a global marketplace, then the teachers charged with their education should be the best, brightest, and most committed themselves. This means paying teachers a fair wage and incentivizing younger generations to become teachers. It also means looking at education comprehensively, from the cradle through higher education. As Senator, Sarah will fight for greater access to safe, affordable, convenient childcare for young children. Sarah will also hold our department of education accountable to enforce desegregation and discrimination laws so that every child can learn without fear of prejudice. Sarah will fight for all Georgia families to guarantee in both word and deed that every child has access to a good public education in a safe and supportive environment. Sarah also supports fully funding Pell Grants and other financial aid for college tuition, as well as lowering interest rates on federal student loans. Students should be able to attend and graduate from a four-year college without a lifetime burden of debt. We are grooming the next generation and preparing our economy for the future. If that future is to be bright, then our education system must improve. Sarah also believes in expanding opportunities to two year colleges, community colleges, and training and apprenticeship programs. Equality & Justice Sarah holds core progressive values and deeply-held personal beliefs regarding dignity, equality, and justice for every person in every community. She acknowledges the role that privilege, discrimination, and institutional race, gender, class, and other biases play in our community and society, and she is committed to eradicating them. Sarah is a staunch ally of the LGBTQ community and supports the EQUALITY Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender idenitity. She will always fight to ensure this community has access to the health care, education, housing, employment, and other opportunities they have a right to. Sarah also stands firmly with the trans community, including specifically trans women of color and Black trans women who are especially targeted for discrimination and violence. 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and while we’ve made much progress, Sarah believes there is more to be done to ensure equal rights and opportunities for this community. She will fight to ensure they receive fair wages, have their civil liberties protected, have access to affordable health care and technology that supports independent living, and receive increased funding and support for their unique educational needs. Sarah supports legislation to study the impact of slavery and ongoing discrimination against African Americans, with the intended goal of making recommendations on reparations for the descendants of enslaved peoples. Sarah condemns the recent racism directed at the Asian American community in response to the COVID-19 virus. She also rejects anti-Muslim bigotry (including the Muslim travel ban) and the rising anti-Semitism we have seen around the country. Sarah will always stand up against acts of violence, hatred, and discrimination against marginalized communities. Our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico have seen economic devastation as a result of repeated disasters – from Hurricane Maria to numerous earthquakes earlier this year. Sarah denounces the Trump administration’s efforts to delay and impede the island’s recovery and demands a full accounting for and commitment to ensuring timely and appropriate relief and support as the island grapples with the aftermath of these disasters along with the current coronavirus threat.[1] |
” |
| —Sarah Riggs Amico’s campaign website (2020)[2] | ||
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Sarah Riggs Amico’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed May 27, 2020
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