2010 Georgia's 9th congressional district special election

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Georgia's 9th congressional district special election, 2010
Flag of Georgia (U.S. state).svg
  2008 June 8, 2010 2010  
  Tom Graves 113th Congress.jpg No image.svg
Candidate Tom Graves Lee Hawkins
Party Republican Republican
Popular vote22,68417,499
Percentage56.45%43.55%

2010 GA-09 special election results.svg
County results
Graves:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Hawkins:     50–60%     60–70%

Representative before election

Nathan Deal
Republican

Elected Representative

Tom Graves
Republican

The 2010 special election for the 9th congressional district of Georgia was held on May 11, 2010, to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Republican U.S. Representative Nathan Deal, who wished to concentrate on his campaign for Governor of Georgia. As no candidate received a majority in the special election, a runoff was held on June 8, 2010. The special election had originally been scheduled for April 27, but was postponed for the benefit of military and overseas voters. [1]

Contents

Background

Nathan Deal announced he was running for governor on May 1, 2009, [2] and announced on March 1 that he would resign from Congress effective March 8 to pursue his candidacy. [3] He was, however, persuaded to postpone his resignation until after voting on the Senate health care reform bill and health care reconciliation bill. [4] On March 21, less than 10 minutes after the final vote, he officially resigned. [5]

Candidates

The following candidates have qualified for the ballot: [6]

Republicans

Democrat

Independent

Special election results

2010 Georgia 9th Special Primary
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Tom Graves 18,316 35.4
Republican Lee Hawkins 12,012 23.2
Republican Steve Tarvin7,94015.3
Republican Chris Cates6,13711.8
Democratic Mike Freeman2,8915.6
Republican Bill Stephens2,0844.0
Republican Bert Loftman1,2922.5
Independent Eugene Moon1,1252.2
Total votes51,797 100

Run-off Results

No candidate won a majority of votes on May 11, so a runoff election was held between the two leading candidates, Lee Hawkins and Tom Graves. [7]

2010 Georgia 9th Special Run-off
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Tom Graves 22,694 56.45
Republican Lee Hawkins17,50943.55
Total votes40,203 100

References

  1. "Ga. special election moved to May". Politico. March 24, 2010. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  2. Bill Torpy (August 1, 2009). "Congressman Deal steps up for governor's race". Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  3. "Georgia GOP Rep. Nathan Deal leaving House for governor race". Boston Herald. March 1, 2010. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  4. Montopoli, Brian (March 4, 2010). "GOP Rep. Nathan Deal Postpones Retirement to Fight Health Bill". CBS News. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  5. 2010  Congressional Record, Vol. 156, Page  H2169 and H2170
  6. "Qualified Candidates for Congressional District 9". Georgia Secretary of State. April 29, 2010. Archived from the original on April 4, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  7. "6/8/2010 - Summary". Sos.georgia.gov. Retrieved August 21, 2010.