2020 Georgia state elections

Several elections took place in the U.S state of Georgia in 2020. The general election was held on November 3, 2020, and the runoff on January 5, 2021. A combined partisan primary for president and all other offices on the ballot was held on June 9, 2020, with a primary runoff held on August 11.

2020 Georgia elections

← 2018 November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03) January 5, 2021 (2021-01-05) 2022 →

This article is about the U.S. state. For the country's poll, see 2020 Georgian parliamentary election.

To vote by mail, registered Georgia voters must have requested a ballot by October 30, 2020.^[1] By early October some 1,589,147 voters requested mail ballots.^[2] Following the November 3, 2020 general election, voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected could make corrections ("cure") until 5 p.m. on Friday, November 6, 2020.^[3][4]

Federal offices

President of the United States

Main article: 2020 United States presidential election in Georgia

See also: 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Georgia Democratic presidential primary, and 2020 Georgia Republican presidential primary

Georgia had 16 electoral votes in the Electoral College. Democrat Joe Biden won all of them with 49.5% of the popular vote. It was the first time a Democratic presidential candidate had won Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.

United States House of Representatives

General

Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia

Georgia had 14 seats in the United States House of Representatives which were up for election. The Republicans won 8 while the Democrats won 6. Democrats gained one seat, the 7th district.

Special

Main article: 2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election

A special election was held for the 5th district due to the death of the incumbent John Lewis. The first round was held on September 29 and the runoff was held on December 1. Democrat Kwanza Hall won the seat.

United States Senate

General

Main article: 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia

Incumbent Republican David Perdue, first elected in 2014, lost his reelection bid to challenger Jon Ossoff. Perdue won the first round with 49.73% of the vote, but in the runoff election lost to Ossoff's 50.57% vote share.

Special

Main article: 2020-21 United States Senate special election in Georgia

Following the resignation of Senator Johny Isakson in 2019, Governor Brian Kemp appointed Kelly Loeffler to serve out the term. Republican senator Loeffler then went on to come second in the first round with 25.9% of the vote while Democratic pastor Raphael Warnock won with 32.9%. Warnock went on to win in the runoff with 51.04% of the vote, becoming the first black senator to represent Georgia.

Public Service Commission

Elections were held for Public Service Commission districts 1 and 4.^[5]

District 1 Democratic primary

• Robert G. Bryant

Primary results

Democratic primary results^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert G. Bryant	926,028	100
Total votes			926,028	100

District 1 Republican primary

• Jason Shaw, incumbent

Primary results

Republican primary results^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jason Shaw (incumbent)	942,043	100
Total votes			942,043	100

District 1 General Election

Georgia Public Service Commissioner election, 2020^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jason Shaw (incumbent)	2,445,181	50.11
	Democratic	Robert G. Bryant	2,255,325	46.22
	Libertarian	Elizabeth Melton	179,011	3.67
Total votes			4,879,517	100
	Republican hold

District 4 Democratic primary

• Daniel Blackman
• John Noel

Primary results

Democratic primary results^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Daniel Blackman	762,740	71.64
	Democratic	John Noel	301,948	28.36
Total votes			1,064,688	100

District 4 Republican primary

• Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, Jr., incumbent

Primary results

Republican primary results^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, Jr. (incumbent)	929,919	100
Total votes			929,919	100

2020-21 Georgia Public Service Commission District 4 election

← 2014 November 3, 2020 (first round) January 5, 2021 (runoff) 2026 →

Candidate Lauren McDonald Daniel Blackman Party Republican Democratic First round 2,415,248 49.91% 2,272,969 46.97% Runoff 2,234,689 50.38% 2,200,962 49.62%

First round county results First round precinct results Runoff county results Runoff precinct results McDonald:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Blackman:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%

Commissioner before election Lauren McDonald Republican Elected Commissioner Lauren McDonald Republican

Georgia Public Service Commissioner election, 2020^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, Jr. (incumbent)	2,415,248	49.91
	Democratic	Daniel Blackman	2,272,969	46.97
	Libertarian	Nathan Wilson	151,196	3.12
Total votes			4,839,413	100

Runoff results

Georgia Public Service Commissioner runoff election, 2021^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, Jr. (incumbent)	2,234,689	50.38
	Democratic	Daniel Blackman	2,200,962	49.62
Total votes			4,435,651	100
	Republican hold

General Assembly

State senate

Main article: 2020 Georgia State Senate election

All 56 seats in the Georgia State Senate were up for election in 2020. The Republicans won 34 seats and the Democrats won 22 seats.

State House

Main article: 2020 Georgia House of Representatives election

All 180 seats in the Georgia House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. The Republicans won 103 seats and the Democrats won 77 seats.

District Attorneys

Out of the state's 49 judicial circuits, 40 held elections for district attorney, and 15 incumbents were replaced either by primary or general election. In addition, a special election for the Western Judicial Circuit saw the appointed incumbent Democrat defeated in the first round, with Deborah Gonzalez winning the second round against James Chafin (independent).

• Augusta: Natalie Paine (R) was defeated by Jared Williams (D)
• Brunswick: Jackie Johnson (R) was defeated by Keith Higgins (independent)
• Chatham: Meg Heap (R) was defeated by Shelena Cook Jones (D)
• Chattahoochee: Julia Slater (D) was defeated in the Democratic primary by Mark Jones (D), who had no general challenger
• Cobb: Joyette Holmes (R) was defeated by Flynn Broady (D)
• Fulton: Paul Howard (D) was defeated in the Democratic primary runoff by Fani Willis (D), who had no general challenger
• Gwinnett: Danny Porter (R) was defeated by Patsy Austin-Gatson (D)
• Macon: David Cooke (D) was defeated in the Democratic primary by Anita Reynolds Howard (D), who had no general challenger

Ballot measures

Amendment 1

"Allow Tax Revenue Dedication"

Authorizes the Georgia State Legislature to pass legislation establishing special funds with dedicated revenue sources to fund statute specific projects.

Amendment 1

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	3,862,568	81.62
No	869,540	18.38
Total votes	4,732,108	100.00

Amendment 2

"Waive Sovereign Immunity"

Waives the state's sovereign immunity, allowing residents to seek relief through the superior courts from state or local laws that are found to violate the U.S. Constitution, state Constitution, or state law.

Amendment 2

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	3,491,296	74.46
No	1,197,792	25.54
Total votes	4,689,088	100.00

Referendum A

"Extend Charity Tax Exemption"

Exempts property taxes for property owned by a 501(c)(3) public charity as long as the property is owned exclusively for the purpose of building or repairing single-family homes and the charity provides interest-free financing to the purchaser of the home.

Referendum A

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	3,451,116	73.09
No	1,270,737	26.91
Total votes	4,721,853	100.00

See also

• Georgia (U.S. State) portal

• Voter suppression in the United States 2019–2020: Georgia
• Elections in Georgia (U.S. state)

References

1. Lily Hay Newman (August 27, 2020), "How to Vote by Mail and Make Sure It Counts", Wired.com, archived from the original on October 6, 2020
2. Michael P. McDonald, "2020 General Election Early Vote Statistics", U.S. Elections Project, retrieved October 10, 2020, Detailed state statistics
3. "Democrats urge voters in Georgia to fix their absentee ballots before a Friday deadline", New York Times, November 6, 2020
4. Absentee By Mail Ballot Signature Cure Affidavit Form (PDF), Georgiademocrat.org, retrieved November 6, 2020
5. "Georgia state executive official elections, 2020". Ballotpedia.
6. "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
7. "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
8. "November 3, 2020 General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
9. "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
10. "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
11. "November 3, 2020 General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
12. "January 5, 2021 Runoff Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved January 19, 2021.

Further reading

• "Georgia likely removed nearly 200k from voter rolls wrongfully, report says", Cnn.com, September 2, 2020
• Sue Halpern (September 11, 2020), "Georgia Voters Get Another Reason to Be Worried", Newyorker.com
• David Weigel; Lauren Tierney (September 22, 2020), "The 50 political states of America", Washingtonpost.com, archived from the original on October 11, 2020, Georgia
• Associated Press (October 12, 2020), Technical problems arise as early voting starts in Georgia
• Paulina Firozi (October 15, 2020), "Overloaded voter check-in system partly blamed for long early voting lines in Georgia", Washington Post
• Jeremy Hobson; Serena McMahon (October 16, 2020), "Two Georgia Voters Who Waited For Hours To Vote Early Describe The Process", Wbur.org, Massachusetts

External links

• "Georgia 2020 Purge List", SaveMyVote2020.org, Los Angeles, CA: Palast Investigative Fund, Check if you have been purged from the Georgia voter rolls
• "League of Women Voters of Georgia". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• Elections Archived November 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at the Georgia Secretary of State official website
• Georgia at Ballotpedia
• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Georgia", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "Georgia: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• Georgia 2019 & 2020 Elections, OpenSecrets
• "Election Guides: Georgia", Spreadthevote.org, archived from the original on October 4, 2020, retrieved October 7, 2020. (Guidance to help voters get to the polls; addresses transport, childcare, work, information challenges)
• "Voting in Georgia", Voting Information by State, Rock the Vote. ("Deadlines, dates, requirements, registration options and information on how to vote in your state")