Gov Brian Kemp wins second term
· Republicans retain all Georgia State-wide offices
· US Senator Raphael Warnock and Hershel Walker head to a runoff
· General Assembly remains in republican control
· Georgia House and Senate Republicans select leaders
On Tuesday Georgians went to the polls to elect Georgia policymakers, including: Governor, Lt Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Department of Labor, Department of Insurance, each member of Congress, one US Senate Seat, and each member of the Georgia General Assembly. While the US Senate race is headed to a runoff, all other seats appear to have resolved. Republicans retain control of all of the state-wide offices as well as the Georgia House and Senate. Voter turnout for the election was 56.92% or approximately 3.95M of the 6.95M voters. Notable details include:*
US Senate (Runoff December 6th)
Hershel Walker (R) 48.52%
Raphael Warnock (D) 49.42%
Governor
Brian Kemp (R) 53.44%
Stacey Abrams (D) 45.85%
Lt Governor
Burt Jones (R) 51.42%
Charlie Bailey (D) 46.40%
Attorney General
Chris Carr (R) 51.89
Jen Jordan (D) 46.58
Commissioner of Insurance
John King (R) 54.12%
Janice Laws Robinson (D) 45.88%
Commissioner of Agriculture
Tyler Harper (R) 53%
Nakita Hemingway 44.81
Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger (R) 53.26%
Bee Nguyen (D) 43.96%
General Assembly
Given terms of the Georgia General Assembly are two years, all members were up for election/ reelection. At this point, it looks like Republicans will hold 101 seats to 79 Democrat seats in the House. In the Senate, Republicans will hold 33 seats (of 56) to 23 Democratic seats. Notables included: the return of former Representatives Deborah Silcox (R) and Scot Hilton (R) to the House as well as former House member, Josh McLauren (D) and the outgoing Board Chairman of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, Jason Estevez (D) to the Senate.
In surprising and really sad news for the State, Speaker David Ralston announced that he while he would continue to serve in the House of Representatives, he would not run for Speaker citing health distractions. Speaker Ralston led the Chamber and the State since 2010, and we are all indebted to his steadying and thoughtful hand that guided us through tumultuous times. Frankly speaking, we are all better for his leadership. The announcement obviously led to a flurry of activity, announcements, and jockeying for position. At this time, it appears that on Monday, November 14th during the House republican caucus elections, members will select either Representative Jon Burns (current Majority Leader) or Representative Barry Fleming (R-Harlem). Given Representative Burns’ pursuit of the Speakership, there will be an election to fill the open position of Majority Leader…and the dominoes will continue to fall. Suffice it to say, most leadership positions will be contested next Monday. We will of course, send out communications outlining the caucus selections. On the Senate side, Senate Republicans will elect their officers during their caucus meeting tomorrow. As is typical on the Senate side, there are numerous individuals running for each office, and the results are less clear. We will update you on the decisions after the election next week.
US Senate
Having failed to receive 50% plus one of the vote, incumbent US Senator Raphael Warnock (D) and Hershel Walker (R) will face off on December 6th in a runoff election. As such, there is a real potential for Georgia to continue to be the center of the political universe with the outcome of the election determining which party controls the Senate.
As a reminder, the Georgia General Assembly returns to action on Monday, January 9, 2023.
For a full listing of the election results, please see:
https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/115465/web.307039/#/summary
*results accurate as of writing, there were still a few ballots outstanding
Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.