2022 Georgia Secretary of State election

2022 Georgia Secretary of State election

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Turnout	57.02%
Nominee Brad Raffensperger Bee Nguyen Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,081,421 1,719,922 Percentage 53.23% 43.99%
County results Congressional district results Precinct results Raffensperger:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Nguyen:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%      No data
Secretary of State before election Brad Raffensperger Republican Elected Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Republican

The 2022 Georgia Secretary of State election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Secretary of State of Georgia. Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger won re-election to a second term. Raffensperger emerged as a major national figure in early January, 2021 when he faced significant pressure from then-President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump had been taped in a phone call asking Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes," the exact number needed for Trump to carry the state. ^[1] The party primary elections took place on May 24, with runoffs scheduled for June 21.

Raffensperger was elected in 2018 to a first term in a runoff against Democratic former U.S. representative John Barrow, the first time in Georgia history that any statewide executive election went to a second round.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Brad Raffensperger, incumbent Secretary of State ^{[2] [3]}

Eliminated in primary

• Jody Hice, U.S. Representative for Georgia's 10th congressional district ^[4]
• TJ Hudson, former Treutlen County Probate Judge ^[5]
• David Belle Isle, former mayor of Alpharetta and candidate for Secretary of State in 2018 ^[6]

Endorsements

Jody Hice

U.S. Executive Branch officials

• Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States (2017–2021) ^[7]

U.S. Representatives

• Matt Gaetz, U.S. Representative from Florida's 1st congressional district (2017–present) ^[8]
• Marjorie Taylor Greene, U.S. Representative from Georgia's 14th congressional district (2021–present) ^[9]

Organizations

• America First Secretary of State Coalition ^[10]
• American Conservative Union ^[11]
• Gun Owners of America ^[12]

David Belle Isle

County commissioners

• Dan Perdue, Houston County commissioner ^[13]

Mayors

• Tommy Allegood, Mayor of Acworth ^[13]
• Keith Brady, Mayor of Newnan ^[13]
• Allen Brown, Mayor of Hinesville ^[13]
• Jimmy Burnette, Mayor of Suwanee ^[13]
• Danny Dunagan, Mayor of Gainesville ^[13]
• Steve Edwards, Mayor of Sugar Hill ^[13]
• Steve Fry, Mayor of Williamson ^[13]
• Jimmy Gilvin, Mayor of Alpharetta ^[13]
• Kevin Gowen, Mayor of Tunnel Hill ^[13]
• Alan Hallman, Mayor of Hapeville ^[13]
• Douglas Hollberg, Mayor of Griffin ^[13]
• Joe Lockwood, Mayor of Milton ^[13]
• Steve Miller, Mayor of Holly Springs ^[13]
• Robert Price, Mayor of Locust Grove ^[13]
• Shirley Sessions, Mayor of Tybee Island ^[13]
• Julie Smith, Mayor of Tifton ^[13]
• Jim Still, Mayor of Mountain Park ^[13]
• Jim Thorton, Mayor of LaGrange ^[13]
• Randy Toms, former Mayor of Warner Robins ^[13]
• Mike Young, Mayor of McRae-Helena ^[13]

City councilors

• Jay Flowers, Thomasville city councilor ^[13]
• Randal Franks, Ringgold city councilor ^[13]
• Wayne Swanson, LaFayette city councilor ^[13]
• Justin Wright, Centerville city councilor ^[13]

Debates

2022 Georgia Secretary of State Republican primary election debates
No.	Date	Organizer	P  Participant  A  Absent (invited)  I  Invited  N  Not invited				Source
			David Belle Isle	Jody Hice	T.J. Hudson	Brad Raffensperger
1	May 2, 2022	Atlanta Press Club, Georgia Public Broadcasting	P	P	P	P	[14]

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of April 30, 2022
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Brad Raffensperger (R)	$1,683,799	$1,372,857	$310,941
Jody Hice (R)	$2,221,750	$1,781,490	$440,260
David Belle Isle (R)	$479,175	$476,319	$2,855
Source: Georgia Campaign Finance Commission [15]

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	David Belle Isle	Jody Hice	T.J. Hudson	Brad Raffensperger	Undecided
Landmark Communications [16]	May 22, 2022	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	9%	39%	2%	38%	11%
SurveyUSA [17]	April 22–27, 2022	559 (LV)	± 4.9%	4%	20%	5%	31%	40%
University of Georgia [18]	April 10–22, 2022	886 (LV)	± 3.3%	5%	26%	4%	28%	37%
Landmark Communications [19]	April 9–10, 2022	660 (LV)	± 3.8%	10%	35%	3%	18%	33%
University of Georgia [20]	March 20 – April 8, 2022	~329 (LV)	± 5.4%	4%	30%	4%	23%	39%
Emerson College [21]	April 1–3, 2022	509 (LV)	± 4.3%	6%	26%	3%	29%	37%

Results

Primary results map by county:

  Raffensperger

•   30–40%
    40–50%
    50–60%
    60–70%

  Hice

•   40–50%
    50–60%
    60–70%
    70–80%

  Hudson

•   70–80%

Despite opinion polls suggesting a tight race between Brad Raffensperger and Jody Hice as well as Trump's endorsement of Hice, Raffensperger ultimately won the primary election with a 19-point margin over Hice and avoided a potential runoff by winning an outright majority of the vote. This has been attributed to Hice's insufficient name recognition across the state and crossover voting in Georgia's open primary system where some Democratic voters voted in the Republican primary to vote against "Trump-backed extremists" like Hice. ^{[22] [23]}

Raffensperger performed best in the Atlanta metropolitan area, while Hice performed best in Georgia's 10th congressional district , where he served as a U.S. representative; only five counties outside the district were won by Hice. The only county to not be won by either Raffensperger or Hice is Treutlen County, Hudson's home county, which he won with 76.42% of the vote. ^[24]

Republican primary results ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brad Raffensperger (incumbent)	611,616	52.37%
	Republican	Jody Hice	389,447	33.34%
	Republican	David Belle Isle	103,272	8.84%
	Republican	TJ Hudson	63,646	5.45%
Total votes			1,167,981	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Bee Nguyen, state representative ^[26]

Eliminated in runoff

• Dee Dawkins-Haigler, former state representative and candidate for Secretary of State in 2018 ^[27]

Eliminated in initial primary

• John Eaves, former chair of the Fulton County Commission and candidate for Georgia's 7th congressional district in 2020 ^[28]
• Floyd Griffin, former state senator and former mayor of Milledgeville ^[29]
• Michael Owens, former chair of the Cobb County Democratic Party, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and cybersecurity executive ^[29]

Did not file

• Manswell Peterson, former college professor ^[30]

Endorsements

Michael Owens

Statewide officials

• Roy Barnes, former Governor of Georgia (1999–2003) ^[31]

State senators

• Michael Rhett, state senator from the 33rd district (2015–present) ^[31]

Organizations

• The Collective PAC ^[32]

Bee Nguyen

State senators

• Michelle Au, state senator from the 48th district (2021–present) ^[33]
• Kim Jackson, state senator from the 41st district (2021–present) ^[33]
• Nikki Merritt, state senator from the 9th district (2021–present) ^[33]
• Sheikh Rahman, state senator from the 5th district (2019–present) ^[33]

State representatives

• Stacey Abrams, former state representative from the 89th district (2007–2017), nominee for Governor in 2018 and 2022 and founder of Fair Fight Action (endorsed in runoff) ^[34]
• Jasmine Clark, state representative from the 108th district (2019–present) ^[33]
• Shelly Hutchinson, state representative from the 107th district (2019–present) ^[33]
• Gregg Kennard, state representative from the 102nd district (2019–present) ^[33]
• Marvin Lim, state representative from the 99th district (2021–present) ^[33]
• Pedro Marin, state representative from the 96th district (2003–present) ^[33]
• Dewey McClain, state representative from the 100th district (2013–present) ^[33]
• Donna McLeod, state representative from the 105th district (2019–present) ^[33]
• Rebecca Mitchell, state representative from the 106th district (2021–present) ^[33]
• Beth Moore, state representative from the 95th district (2019–present) ^[33]
• Sam Park, state representative from the 101st district (2017–present) ^[33]

Local officials

• Kirkland Carden, Gwinnett County commissioner (2020–present) ^[33]
• Ben Ku, Gwinnett County commissioner (2018–present) ^[33]

Organizations

• EMILY's List ^[35]
• End Citizens United ^[36]
• NARAL Pro-Choice America ^[37]
• People for the American Way ^[38]

First round

Debates

2022 Georgia Secretary of State Democratic primary election debates
No.	Date	Organizer	P  Participant  A  Absent (invited)  I  Invited  N  Not invited					Source
			Dee Dawkins-Haigler	John Eaves	Floyd Griffin	Bee Nguyen	Michael Owens
1	May 2, 2022	Atlanta Press Club, Georgia Public Broadcasting	P	P	P	P	P	[39]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Dee Dawkins-Haigler	John Eaves	Floyd Griffin	Bee Nguyen	Michael Owens	Manswell Peterson	Undecided
SurveyUSA [17]	April 22–27, 2022	549 (LV)	± 5.1%	7%	7%	6%	12%	9%	–	60%
Emerson College [21]	April 1–3, 2022	509 (LV)	± 4.3%	13%	14%	4%	7%	5%	0%	57%

Results

Initial primary results map by county:

  Nguyen

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%

  Dawkins-Haigler

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%

  Owens

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%

  Griffin

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   70–80%

  Nguyen/Owens tie

•   20–30%

Democratic primary results ^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bee Nguyen	309,437	44.33%
	Democratic	Dee Dawkins-Haigler	130,278	18.67%
	Democratic	Michael Owens	114,621	16.42%
	Democratic	Floyd Griffin	75,423	10.81%
	Democratic	John Eaves	68,233	9.78%
Total votes			697,992	100.0%

Runoff

Debate

2022 Georgia Secretary of State democratic primary runoff debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Democratic
Key:  P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Dee Dawkins-Haigler	Bee Nguyen
1	Jun. 6, 2022	Atlanta Press Club	Lisa Rayam	YouTube	P	P

Results

Runoff primary results map by county:

  Nguyen

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   >90%

  Dawkins-Haigler

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

Nguyen/Dawkins-Haigler tie

•   50–60%

Democratic primary runoff results ^[41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bee Nguyen	198,511	77.00%
	Democratic	Dee Dawkins-Haigler	59,310	23.00%
Total votes			257,821	100.0%

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

• Ted Metz, former chair of the Libertarian Party of Georgia and nominee for governor in 2018 ^[42]

General election

Debate

2022 Georgia Secretary of State debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Democratic	Libertarian
Key:  P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Brad Raffensperger	Bee Nguyen	Ted Metz
1	Oct. 28, 2022	Atlanta Press Club Georgia Public Broadcasting	Lisa Rayam	YouTube	P	P	P

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [43]	Lean R	November 3, 2022
Elections Daily [44]	Lean R	November 7, 2022

Post-primary endorsements

Brad Raffensperger (R)

U.S. Representatives

• Adam Kinzinger, U.S. Representative for Illinois's 16th congressional district (2011–2023) ^[45]

Bee Nguyen (D)

U.S. executive branch officials

• Barack Obama, former President of the United States (2009–2017) ^[46]

Organizations

• Georgia Equality ^[47]

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Brad Raffensperger (R)	Bee Nguyen (D)	Ted Metz (L)	Other	Undecided
Landmark Communications [48]	November 4–7, 2022	1,214 (LV)	± 2.8%	48%	40%	6%	–	6%
SurveyUSA [49]	September 30 – October 4, 2022	1,076 (LV)	± 3.7%	39%	36%	–	7%	18%
University of Georgia [50]	September 5–16, 2022	861 (LV)	± 3.3%	50%	31%	6%	–	13%
Phillips Academy [51]	August 3–7, 2022	971 (RV)	± 3.1%	50%	34%	–	–	16%
SurveyUSA [52]	July 21–24, 2022	604 (LV)	± 5.3%	40%	33%	–	7%	20%
University of Georgia [53]	July 14–22, 2022	902 (LV)	± 3.3%	46%	32%	7%	–	15%

Results

2022 Georgia Secretary of State election ^[54]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Brad Raffensperger (incumbent)	2,081,241	53.23%	+4.14%
	Democratic	Bee Nguyen	1,719,922	43.99%	−5.32%
	Libertarian	Ted Metz	108,884	2.78%	+0.55%
Total votes			3,910,047	100.0%
	Republican hold

By congressional district

Raffensperger won nine of 14 congressional districts. ^[55]

District	Raffensperger	Nguyen	Representative
1st	60%	37%	Buddy Carter
2nd	48%	49%	Sanford Bishop
3rd	67%	30%	Drew Ferguson
4th	24%	74%	Hank Johnson
5th	21%	77%	Nikema Williams
6th	63%	33%	Lucy McBath (117th Congress)
			Rich McCormick (118th Congress)
7th	41%	56%	Carolyn Bourdeaux (117th Congress)
			Lucy McBath (118th Congress)
8th	67%	30%	Austin Scott
9th	72%	25%	Andrew Clyde
10th	64%	33%	Jody Hice (117th Congress)
			Mike Collins (118th Congress)
11th	61%	35%	Barry Loudermilk
12th	59%	38%	Rick Allen
13th	21%	78%	David Scott
14th	70%	27%	Marjorie Taylor Greene

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

References

1. Amy, Jeff; Superville, Darlene; Brumback, Kate (January 3, 2021). "Trump, on tape, presses Ga. official to 'find' him votes". Associated Press. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
2. Murphy, Patricia; Bluestein, Greg; Mitchell, Tia (May 19, 2021). "The Jolt: Brad Raffensperger: 'Yes, I'm running again'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
3. Levine, Sam, He became a hero for halting Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. Will voters now punish him? , The Guardian, May 19, 2022
4. Bluestein, Greg (March 22, 2021). "Hice launches challenge to Raffensperger in race for secretary of state". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on February 4, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
5. Bluestein, Greg (April 20, 2021). "Georgia 2022: Probate judge challenges Raffensperger in GOP race". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
6. Williams, Dave (March 23, 2021). "Republicans Jody Hice, David Belle Isle announce primary challenges to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger". Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
7. Haberman, Maggie (March 22, 2021). "Trump Endorses a Loyalist, Jody Hice, for Georgia Secretary of State". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
8. Lauren Souther (March 22, 2021). "Hice begins raking in endorsements for SOS". FYN.
9. Russell Berman (July 12, 2021). "Trump's Revenge Begins in Georgia". The Atlantic.
10. "Candidates - America First Secretary of State Coalition". americafirstsos.com. November 26, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
11. Walters, Ian. "The American Conservative Union (ACU) today announced its endorsement of Jody Hice for Secretary of State in Georgia". American Conservative Union. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
12. "GOA Endorses Jody Hice of Secretary of State in the Peach State". Gun Owners of America. December 1, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
13. Yeomans, Curt (August 12, 2021). "Mayors of Suwanee, Sugar Hill reportedly backing David Belle Isle's bid to unseat Secretary of State Bard Raffensperger". www.gwinnettdailypost.com. Gwinnett Daily Post . Retrieved January 6, 2022.
14. "Georgia Secretary of State Republican Debate | C-SPAN.org". C-SPAN . Retrieved May 3, 2022.
15. "Search for Candidates/Campaign Committees". Georgia Campaign Finance Commission.
16. Landmark Communications
17. SurveyUSA
18. University of Georgia
19. Landmark Communications
20. University of Georgia
21. Emerson College
22. Waldron, Travis (May 25, 2022). "Brad Raffensperger, Who Blocked Trump From Stealing Georgia, Wins GOP Sec. Of State Race". HuffPost . Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
23. Peoples, Steve; Kessler, Aaron (May 31, 2022). "Some Democrats voting in GOP contests to block Trump picks". Associated Press . Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
24. "General Primary/Special Election - Official & Complete Results". GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE. May 24, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
25. "General Primary/Special Election - Official & Complete Results". GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE. May 24, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
26. Fausset, Richard (May 4, 2021). "Bee Nguyen, Georgia Democrat, Enters Race for Secretary of State". The New York Times . Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
27. "Who is running for office in the Athens elections + what races are on the ballot in 2022".
28. "Former Fulton County Chairman John Eaves announces campaign for Georgia Secretary of State". Fox 5 Atlanta. June 2, 2021.
29. Bluestein, Greg (September 22, 2021). "Democrat Owens launches bid to be Georgia's top election official". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Archived from the original on September 22, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
30. Fletcher, Carlton (April 3, 2021). "Albany's Manswell Peterson kicks off Georgia secretary of state campaign". The Albany Herald. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
31. Johnson, Larry (January 20, 2022). "Michael Owens Lines Up Endorsements For Secretary Of State Race". www.cobbcountycourier.com/. Cobb County Courier . Retrieved May 1, 2022.
32. "In endorsement news". www.ajc.com. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. April 1, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
33. Yeomans, Curt (December 9, 2021). "Seventeen elected officials endorse state Rep. Bee Nguyen's secretary of state bid". www.gwinnettdailypost.com. Gwinnett Daily Post . Retrieved January 6, 2022.
34. "Stacey Abrams releases endorsements in Georgia Democratic runoffs". FOX 5 Atlanta. June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
35. "EMILY's List Endorses Two Candidates for Statewide Office in Georgia". EMILY's List. December 9, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
36. "End Citizens United backs Jordan, Nguyen for Georgia offices". www.ajc.com. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. December 16, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
37. "NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Georgia State Representative Bee Nguyen for Secretary of State". www.prochoiceamerica.org. December 7, 2021.
38. "People For Proudly Announces Its Endorsement of Bee Nguyen, Candidate for Georgia Secretary of State" (Press release). Washington, DC: People For the American Way. May 11, 2021. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
39. Fowler, Stephen (May 3, 2022). "Democrats offer vision for elections in secretary of state primary debate". Georgia Public Broadcasting . Retrieved May 3, 2022.
40. "General Primary/Special Election - Official & Complete Results". GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE. May 24, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
41. "General Primary/Special Election Runoff - Official & Complete Results". June 21, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
42. Melton, Elizabeth (January 17, 2022). "Press Release: Libertarian Party of Georgia Makes History at 2022 Convention with Full Slate of Statewide Candidates" . Retrieved February 24, 2022.
43. "Secretary of State and Attorney General: What to Watch for Next Week in Key Statewide Contests". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
44. Solomon, Zack (November 7, 2022). "Elections Daily Secretary of State Ratings". Elections Daily. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
45. Montellaro, Zach. "Kinzinger endorses Dems in major governor, secretary of state races". POLITICO. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
46. "Obama urges Georgians to turn out for Democrats". October 31, 2022.
47. "2022 Endorsements - Georgia Equality PAC". georgiaequalitypac.org. Georgia Equality.
48. Landmark Communications
49. SurveyUSA
50. University of Georgia
51. Phillips Academy
52. SurveyUSA
53. University of Georgia
54. "Secretary of State - November 8, 2022 General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
55. https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::3a370cc7-f820-4af4-8fca-a27ec52502b7

External links

Official campaign websites

• Ted Metz (L) for Secretary of State
• Bee Nguyen (D) for Secretary of State
• Brad Raffensperger (R) for Secretary of State