2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election

Last updated

2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election
Flag of Georgia (U.S. state).svg
  2018 September 29, 2020
December 1, 2020 (runoff)
November 2020  

Georgia's 5th congressional district
  Kwanza Hall (GA-05).jpg No image.svg
Candidate Kwanza Hall Robert Michael Franklin Jr.
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote13,45011,332
Percentage54.27%45.73%

2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election runoff - Results by county.svg
County results
Hall:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. Representative before election

Vacant

Elected U.S. Representative

Kwanza Hall
Democratic

A special election filled the remainder of the term in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district in the 116th United States Congress. Incumbent representative John Lewis, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2019, died on July 17, 2020, during his 17th term. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Background

As established by the Constitution of Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp ordered a special election to fill out the remainder of Lewis's term for September 29, 2020. [4] Since no candidate reached 50% on September 29, there was a special runoff election on December 1. [5] This meant that the runoff election took place four weeks after the regular election for a full two-year term. The runoff winner would thus serve for just one month covering the holiday season.

On July 20, 2020, the state Democratic Party announced that State Senator Nikema Williams would replace Lewis on the November ballot, [6] which she won with over 300,000 votes (85%). Williams did not run in the special election to serve the remainder of Lewis's term. [7]

Candidates

Democratic Party

Advanced to runoff

Eliminated in blanket primary

Declined

Libertarian Party

Eliminated in blanket primary

Independent

Eliminated in blanket primary

  • Steven Muhammad, Community Organizer [8]

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [9] Safe DAugust 21, 2020
Inside Elections [10] Safe DAugust 21, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball [11] Safe DJuly 23, 2020
Politico [12] Safe DJuly 6, 2020
Daily Kos [13] Safe DAugust 17, 2020
RCP [14] Safe DJune 9, 2020
Niskanen [15] Safe DJuly 26, 2020

Results

Georgia's 5th congressional district special election, September 29, 2020 [16]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Kwanza Hall 11,104 31.75%
Democratic Robert Michael Franklin Jr. 9,987 28.55%
Democratic Mable Thomas 6,69219.13%
Democratic Keisha Waites 4,25512.17%
Democratic Barrington Martin II1,9445.56%
Libertarian Chase Oliver 7122.04%
Independent Steven Muhammad2820.8%
Total votes34,967 100.00%

Runoff

2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election runoff, December 1, 2020 [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Kwanza Hall 13,450 54.27%
Democratic Robert Michael Franklin Jr. 11,33245.73%
Total votes24,782 100.00%
Democratic hold

See also

Related Research Articles

Georgia's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia. The district was represented by Democrat John Lewis from January 3, 1987, until his death on July 17, 2020. Kwanza Hall was elected to replace Lewis on December 1, 2020, and served until January 3, 2021, when Nikema Williams took his place. Hall was elected in a special election for the balance of Lewis' 17th term. He chose not to run in the general election for a full two-year term, which was won by Williams.

The Democratic Party of Georgia is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is one of the two major political parties in the state and is chaired by Nikema Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwanza Hall</span> American politician (born 1971)

Kwanza Hall is an American politician and businessman who briefly served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district. He previously served as a member of the Atlanta City Council for the 2nd district. He was first elected in 2005 and re-elected in 2009. He represented the neighborhoods of Atlantic Station, Castleberry Hill, Downtown, Home Park, Inman Park, the Marietta Artery, Sweet Auburn and the Martin Luther King Historic District, Midtown, Poncey-Highland, and the Old Fourth Ward. He opted to not run for re-election in 2017, and was a candidate in the 2017 Atlanta mayoral election.

Mable Thomas is an American politician serving as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives for District 56. She previously represented District 55, which includes areas immediately west and southwest of Downtown Atlanta and areas west and northwest of Midtown Atlanta.

Keisha Sean Waites is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, she served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2012 to 2017, representing southeast Atlanta, College Park, East Point, Hapeville, Forest Park, Hartsfield Jackson Airport, Porsche Headquarters and parts of Clayton and DeKalb counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia</span>

The 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021, to elect the Class II member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia. Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue in the runoff election. The general election was held concurrently with the 2020 presidential election, as well as with other elections to the Senate, elections to the U.S. House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Cannon</span> American politician

Park Elizabeth Cannon is an American politician from the state of Georgia. She is a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 58th district, and a member of the Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Georgia's 6th congressional district special election</span>

A special election to determine the member of the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 6th congressional district was held on April 18, 2017, with a runoff held two months later on June 20. Republican Karen Handel narrowly defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in the runoff vote, 51.8% to 48.2%. Handel succeeded Tom Price, who resigned from the seat following his confirmation as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration. The runoff election was necessary when no individual candidate earned the majority of votes in the election on April 18. Ossoff received 48.1% of the vote in the first round, followed by Handel with 19.8%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Georgia House of Representatives election</span>

The 2018 Georgia House of Representatives elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Georgia voters elected state representatives in all 180 of the state house's districts. State representatives serve two-year terms in the Georgia House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikema Williams</span> American politician (born 1978)

Nikema Natassha Williams is an American politician and political executive serving as the representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district and as Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia. The district includes almost three-quarters of Atlanta. She was a member of the Georgia State Senate for the 39th district from 2017-2021. Williams served as one of 16 electors for Georgia in the Electoral College following the 2020 United States presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States Senate election in Georgia</span>

The 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the U.S. Senate to represent the state of Georgia. Incumbent Democratic senator Raphael Warnock won his first full term in office, defeating Republican former football player Herschel Walker. Under Georgia's two-round system, Warnock was re-elected in a runoff election on December 6 after neither candidate received over 50% of the vote on November 8. Warnock's win was the only statewide victory for Democrats in Georgia in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana</span>

The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Louisiana, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia</span>

The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the 14 U.S. representatives from the state of Georgia, one from each of the state's 14 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia</span>

The 2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021, to elect the Class III member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia. Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated appointed incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler. The first round of the election was held on November 3, 2020; however, no candidate received a majority of the vote, so the top two candidates—Warnock and Loeffler—advanced to a runoff on January 5, 2021, which Warnock won narrowly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Stanton-King</span> American media personality and politician

Angela Stanton-King is an American author, television personality and conservative speaker based in Atlanta, Georgia. She spent two years in prison for conspiracy and was later pardoned by President Donald Trump a decade after serving her sentence. She subsequently became a media personality and was a main cast member on the third season of the BET docuseries From the Bottom Up. She was the Republican candidate for Georgia's 5th congressional district in the 2020 election, losing to Democrat Nikema Williams. Stanton-King has shown support for QAnon, which espouses a number of far-right conspiracy theories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia</span>

The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the 14 U.S. representatives from the state of Georgia, one from each of the state's congressional districts. The elections coincided with the Georgia gubernatorial election, as well as other elections to the U.S. House of Representatives, elections to the U.S. Senate, and various state and local elections.

Sonya McLaughlin Halpern is an American politician and former marketing executive who is a member of the Georgia State Senate representing the 39th district. Elected in December 2020 in a special Democratic primary election, she is currently serving her first term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Georgia state elections</span>

Several elections took place in the U.S. state of Georgia in 2022. The general election was held on November 8, 2022. A runoff election for one of Georgia's seats in the United States Senate was held on December 6, 2022. The runoff was scheduled because none of the candidates for Senate received 50% of the statewide vote in the general election. In addition to the Senate seat, all of Georgia's seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Also up for election were all of Georgia's executive officers and legislative seats, as well as one seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission. The Republican Party decisively won every single statewide office in Georgia except for the Federal Senate race which narrowly went Democratic in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election</span> Election for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia

The 2022 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Georgia. It coincided with various other statewide elections, including for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Governor of Georgia. Georgia is one of 21 states that elects its lieutenant governor separately from its governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">157th Georgia General Assembly</span> Term of state legislature in US state of Georgia

The 157th Georgia General Assembly consisted of two sessions of the Georgia General Assembly in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the first in 2023 and the second in 2024. It convened its first session on January 9, 2023 at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, which adjourned sine die on March 29; as stipulated in the Constitution of Georgia, the General Assembly can only hold a session "for a period of no longer than 40 days in the aggregate each year".

References

  1. Veronica Stracqualursi (July 19, 2020). "What happens to John Lewis' vacant US House seat in Georgia". CNN. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  2. Perrett, Connor. "How Democrats plan to find a replacement for John Lewis on November's ballot by Monday". Business Insider. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  3. "The process of replacing Rep. John Lewis in the US House". 11Alive.com. July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  4. "Atlanta lowering flags indefinitely to honor Rep. John Lewis". KSTP. July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  5. Raymond, Jonathan (July 31, 2020). "Here's who qualified to run in the special election to fill John Lewis' seat". WXIA-TV – "11 Alive" . Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  6. Alex Rogers (July 20, 2020). "Georgia state Sen. Nikema Williams picked to replace Lewis on November ballot". CNN. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  7. Panetta, Grace. "Nikema Williams is selected as the Democratic nominee to replace Rep. John Lewis on the ballot for November". Business Insider. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Raffensperger, Brad (August 13, 2020). "United States Representative District 5 Qualifying Candidate Information". Elections Secretary of State Georgia Government .
  9. "2020 Senate Race Ratings for April 19, 2019". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  10. "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  11. "2020 Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  12. "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
  13. "Daily Kos Elections releases initial Senate race ratings for 2020". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  14. "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.
  15. "2020 Negative Partisanship and the 2020 Congressional Elections". Niskanen Center. April 28, 2020. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  16. "Results Summary". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  17. "Results Summary". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.