Georgia elections, 2018

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A general election was held in the U.S. state of Georgia on November 6, 2018. All of Georgia's executive officers were up for election as well as all of Georgia's fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives. Neither U.S. Senate seat was up for election in 2018.

U.S. state constituent political entity of the United States

In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.

Georgia (U.S. state) State of the United States of America

Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States. It began as a British colony in 1733, the last and southernmost of the original Thirteen Colonies to be established. Named after King George II of Great Britain, the Province of Georgia covered the area from South Carolina south to Spanish Florida and west to French Louisiana at the Mississippi River. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788. In 1802–1804, western Georgia was split to the Mississippi Territory, which later split to form Alabama with part of former West Florida in 1819. Georgia declared its secession from the Union on January 19, 1861, and was one of the original seven Confederate states. It was the last state to be restored to the Union, on July 15, 1870. Georgia is the 24th largest and the 8th most populous of the 50 United States. From 2007 to 2008, 14 of Georgia's counties ranked among the nation's 100 fastest-growing, second only to Texas. Georgia is known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South. Atlanta, the state's capital and most populous city, has been named a global city. Atlanta's metropolitan area contains about 55% of the population of the entire state.

United States House of Representatives lower house of the United States Congress

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they compose the legislature of the United States.

Contents

Governor

Incumbent Republican Governor Nathan Deal is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term.

Republican Party (United States) Major political party in the United States

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

Nathan Deal 82nd Governor of Georgia

John Nathan Deal is an American attorney and politician who served as the 82nd Governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party in 1992 and switched to the Republican Party in 1995. On March 1, 2010, Deal announced his resignation from Congress to run for Governor of Georgia.

Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle was running for governor but was defeated in the run-off election by Secretary of State Brian Kemp. [1] House Minority Leader for the Georgia General Assembly and Democrat Stacey Abrams is running for governor. [2] Libertarian Ted Metz is also running for Governor. [3]

Casey Cagle American politician

Lowell Stacy "Casey" Cagle is an American politician and businessman, who served as the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Georgia from 2007 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Brian Kemp Governor of Georgia

Brian Porter Kemp is an American businessman and politician who is the 83rd and incumbent governor of the U.S. state of Georgia, in office since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the Secretary of State of Georgia and a member of the Georgia State Senate.

Georgia General Assembly


The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Lieutenant Governor

Potential Republican candidates include Georgia Senate President Pro Tempore David Shafer, State Representative Geoff Duncan, Senate Majority Leader Bill Cowsert, State Senator Butch Miller, State Senator Burt Jones, Secretary of State Brian Kemp, Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols and former adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard Jim Butterworth. [4] [5] State Representative Allen Peake was also speculated as a potential candidate, but has ruled out a bid. [6] [7]

David Shafer (politician) American politician

David J. Shafer is an American politician who formerly served in the Georgia State Senate. He represented Senate District 48, a suburban district located north of Atlanta and including portions of Fulton County and Gwinnett County. Shafer is a Republican.

Geoff Duncan Lieutenant governor of Georgia

Geoffrey L. Duncan is an American businessman and politician who is the 12th lieutenant governor of Georgia. He is a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives.

Bill Cowsert is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A member of the Republican Party, Cowsert serves in the Georgia State Senate, representing the 46th district.

As of November 2017, the declared Democratic candidate is Sarah Riggs Amico, an auto executive. [8] Potential Democratic candidates include 2010 Attorney General nominee, former Dougherty County District Attorney Ken Hodges. [9]

Dougherty County, Georgia County in the United States

Dougherty County is a county located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 94,565. The county seat and sole incorporated city is Albany.

Ken Hodges American politician

Kenneth (Ken) B. Hodges III is a Judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia and the former District Attorney for Dougherty County, Georgia in the United States and was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Georgia in 2010. In 2015, Hodges started his own law firm, Ken Hodges Law, based out of Atlanta and Albany. Hodges won an open seat in a contested race on the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2018, earning nearly 70% of the state-wide vote.

Democratic primary

Primary results

Democratic primary results [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Sarah Riggs Amico278,66255.24
Democratic Triana Arnold James225,75844.76
Total votes504,420100

Republican primary

Advanced to runoff

Primary results

Republican primary results [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican David Shafer 268,22148.91
Republican Geoff Duncan 146,16326.65
Republican Rick Jeffares 134,04724.44
Total votes548,431100

Runoff results

Republican primary runoff results [18]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Geoff Duncan 280,46550.14
Republican David Shafer 278,86849.86
Total votes559,333100

Attorney General

Incumbent Republican Attorney General Sam Olens resigned to become president of Kennesaw State University effective November 1, 2016, with Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Christopher M. "Chris" Carr being appointed to serve the remainder of the term. [19] Carr will be eligible to run for election to a full term in 2018.

Potential Republican candidates include State Senator Josh McKoon and former State Representative B.J. Pak. [19] [20]

Potential Democratic candidates included State Representative Stacey Evans and former Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission Chair Lester Tate. [21] [22] 2010 nominee and former Dougherty County District Attorney Ken Hodges was considered a potential candidate, but has decided to run for a seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals instead. [22] Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson has ruled out running for Attorney General. [23] As of July 2018, Charlie Bailey, former Senior Assistant District Attorney in the Fulton County District Attorney's office, was running.

Secretary of State

Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp is running for governor. [24]

State Representative Buzz Brockway is running for the Republican nomination. [25] Other potential Republican candidates include Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle and State Senators Steve Gooch, John Albers and Michael Williams. [25] [26]

The Democratic nominee is former U.S. Representative from Georgia's 12th congressional district, John Barrow, who defeated Dee Dawkins-Haigler and Rakeim "RJ" Hadley in the primary. [27]

The Libertarian candidate is Smythe Duval. He won the nomination at the Georgia State Libertarian Convention in February 2018. [28]

Commissioner of Agriculture

Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black is eligible to run for re-election to a third term in office.

Fred Swann is the Democratic candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture. [29]

Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner

Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire Ralph Hudgens is not running for re-election. [30]

Cindy Zeldin, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, is running for the Democratic nomination. [31]

Donnie Foster won the Libertarian nomination for Insurance Commissioner at the Georgia Libertarian Convention in February 2018. [32]

Commissioner of Labor

Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler is eligible to run for re-election to a third term in office.

State Superintendent of Schools

Incumbent Republican State Superintendent of Schools Richard Woods is running for re-election to a second term in office. [33]

Potential Democratic candidates include Georgia Association of Educators President Sid Chapman and former National PTA President Otha Thornton. [33]

Public Service Commission

Elections will be held for District 3 and District 5 of the Public Service Commission.

In District 3 Ryan Graham is the Libertarian candidate for Public Service Commission. [34]

In District 5 John Turpish is the Libertarian candidate for Public Service Commission. [35]

General Assembly

State Senate

All 56 seats in the Georgia State Senate are up for election in 2018.

State House

All 180 seats in the Georgia House of Representatives are up for election in 2018.

United States House of Representatives

All of Georgia's fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives will be up for election in 2018.

Controversies

The gubernatorial race was particularly controversial during the 2018 elections, as Republican candidate Brian Kemp was also the Georgia Secretary of State, a position which involves overseeing the electoral process, leading to allegations of conflicts of interests. [36] [37] [38] Despite calls from Georgia Democrats, organizations such as the NAACP [39] and Common Cause [40] , and former president Jimmy Carter [41] , Kemp did not relinquish the position until after the election. [42]

Accusations were also leveled at Kemp with regards to the purging of voter rolls that was done under his oversight. Removing names from voter rolls is a common practice in the case of voters who are deceased or have moved out of state, [43] but since 2017, the practice has spiked in Georgia. [44] Due to strict voting rules in Georgia, tens of thousands of citizens lost their right to vote because of otherwise trivial issues, such as small differences between pieces of identification or insufficiently similar signatures. [45] Kemp was accused of using the voter roll purge as a tactic to disenfranchise more than half a million people, predominantly African-Americans [46] , which has been likened to voter suppression. [47] [48]

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References

  1. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (April 29, 2017). "Georgia 2018: Cagle launches governor campaign with pledge to add 500k jobs". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Georgia 2018: Stacey Abrams resigns from House to focus on gov run | Political Insider blog" . Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  3. ↑ Metz, Ted. Libertarian Party of Georgia https://lpgeorgia.com/about/candidates/.Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ Bluestein, Greg; Gould Sheinin, Aaron (January 24, 2016). "Some cracks appear in GOP leadership inside Georgia's Capitol". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  5. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (November 18, 2016). "Former pro baseball player turned Georgia legislator makes pitch for higher office". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ Kremer, Will (July 27, 2015). "Allen Peake for Lt. Gov?". Peach Pundit. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  7. ↑ Lee, Maggie (February 3, 2016). "Peake won't run for lieutenant governor". The Telegraph . Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  8. ↑ "A Democratic auto executive gears up for Georgia's No. 2 job | Political Insider" . Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  9. ↑ Young, Neely (August 1, 2016). "Political Patter". Georgia Trend. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  10. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (September 25, 2017). "A Democratic auto executive gears up for Georgia's No. 2 job". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  11. ↑ "AROUND TOWN: Keeping it in the family; more candidates announce". MDJOnline.com. December 8, 2017.
  12. ↑ "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  13. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (April 11, 2017). "Geoff Duncan enters Lt Gov race". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  14. ↑ Sturgeon, Kathleen (April 26, 2017). "Rep. Duncan announces Lt. Gov. campaign". Forsyth Herald.
  15. ↑ Gould Sheinin, Aaron (May 26, 2017). "Rick Jeffares joins race for lieutenant governor". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  16. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (May 5, 2017). "David Shafer is running for lieutenant governor". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  17. ↑ "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  18. ↑ "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election Runoff". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  19. 1 2 Bluestein, Greg (October 12, 2016). "Deal appoints loyalist to be Georgia's attorney general". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  20. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (October 6, 2016). "Jack Kingston becomes a D.C. lobbyist for the Syrian opposition". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  21. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (October 4, 2016). "Democrat Stacey Evans eyes a run for soon-to-be-opened Attorney General seat". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  22. 1 2 Bluestein, Greg (March 29, 2017). "Ken Hodges passes on AG run to seek judgeship". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  23. ↑ Williams, Chuck (April 12, 2017). "Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson weighs run for governor, secretary of state". Ledger-Enquirer . Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  24. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (March 31, 2017). "Georgia 2018: Brian Kemp enters race for governor". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  25. 1 2 Bluestein, Greg (March 13, 2017). "Buzz Brockway to seek Secretary of State gig in 2018". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  26. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (July 5, 2016). "An early Donald Trump backer aims for higher office in Georgia". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Qualifying Candidate Information". Georgia Secretary of State webpage . Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  28. ↑ Duval, Smythe. "Libertarian Candidate". J. Smythe Duval for Secretary of State.
  29. ↑ "Fred Swann For Georgia Agriculture Commissioner". Fred Swann For Georgia Agriculture Commissioner. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  30. ↑ Salzer, James (July 17, 2017). "Georgia insurance commissioner won't run for re-election in 2018". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  31. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (July 18, 2017). "Health advocate enters race for Georgia insurance chief". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  32. ↑ Foster, Donnie. https://lpgeorgia.com/about/candidates/.Missing or empty |title= (help)
  33. 1 2 Tagami, Ty (May 8, 2017). "Democrats eye Georgia school superintendent's office in 2018". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  34. ↑ Graham, Ryan. "Libertarian Nominee District 3". Ryan Graham for Public Service Commission.
  35. ↑ Turpish, John. "Libertarian District 5 Public Service Commission Nominee".
  36. ↑ Nelson, Janai. "Georgia gubernatorial candidate's huge conflict of interest". CNN. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  37. ↑ "Georgia Voting Machine Issues Heighten Scrutiny on Brian Kemp". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  38. ↑ Anderson, Carol (2018-11-07). "Brian Kemp's Lead in Georgia Needs an Asterisk". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  39. ↑ Samuels, Brett (2018-11-06). "NAACP president: 'I wish we could bring criminal charges' against Brian Kemp over voting issues". TheHill. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  40. ↑ "Common Cause Georgia v. Brian Kemp | Brennan Center for Justice". www.brennancenter.org. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  41. ↑ CNN, Eli Watkins,. "Jimmy Carter calls for Brian Kemp to resign as GA secretary of state". CNN. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  42. ↑ Pramuk, Jacob (2018-11-08). "Georgia's GOP gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp resigns as secretary of state". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  43. ↑ Durkin, Erin (2018-10-19). "GOP candidate improperly purged 340,000 from Georgia voter rolls, investigation claims". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  44. ↑ "Georgia's strict laws lead to large purge of voters". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  45. ↑ George, Kavitha. "The ACLU Is Suing Over A Georgia Law That Could Disqualify Thousands Of Voters". Bustle. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  46. ↑ "Voter-Suppression Tactics in the Age of Trump". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  47. ↑ Shah, Khushbu (2018-11-10). "'Textbook voter suppression': Georgia's bitter election a battle years in the making". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  48. ↑ Jordan, Elise (15 November 2018). "I've Worked in Republican Politics. The Party's Voter Suppression in the Midterms Has Been a Disgrace". TIME. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
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