The hotly contested race to replace U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District appeared likely headed for a runoff between Democratic candidates following Tuesday’s primary election, though many votes were still left to be counted long after midnight.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rich McCormick looked to have collected enough votes to avoid a runoff in the Republican primary.
The 7th District, covering most of Gwinnett County and part of Forsyth County, drew a crowded field of candidates in the primary following the decision by current seat holder Woodall, a Republican, not to seek re-election.
Whoever emerges for the Nov. 3 general election, the race is expected to be close. In 2018, Woodall won his fourth term by less than 500 votes over Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux, who is making a second run at the seat this year.
Bourdeaux, who amassed nearly $2 million in campaign contributions ahead of Tuesday’s primary, looked unlikely to claim more than 50% of the vote tally needed to avoid a runoff. As voting stood early Wednesday morning, she is poised to face one of several close-competing Democratic candidates in a runoff scheduled for Aug. 11.
On the Republican side, Dr. Rich McCormick, an emergency room doctor and former Marine pilot, held slightly more than 50% of the vote early Wednesday morning over state Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford. McCormick and Unterman sparred ahead of the election in a bid to emphasize their conservative views.
Seven Republican and six Democratic candidates put their hats in the ring for the primary election held Tuesday. Views from opposing-party candidates have divided sharply over hallmark issues including immigration enforcement, universal health care, the Green New Deal environmental pledge and President Donald Trump’s helming of the federal government.
Trailing Bourdeaux on the Democratic slate were state Rep. Brenda Lopez Romero, the first Latina elected to the General Assembly; Nabilah Islam, a campaign organizer and activist; and Rashid Malik, a former IBM executive and author.
Republican candidates have dismissed the idea that the 7th District is up for grabs, noting the region’s conservative base is energized to re-elect Trump and down-ballot Republicans in the Nov. 3 general election.
But Democratic hopefuls see an opening in the district after Bourdeaux’s close race and amid demographic changes in Gwinnett County that have been spurred in part by a growing minority population.
Tuesday’s primary was marked by long lines and wait times at some polling places in the state, particularly in Atlanta and Savannah. Elections officials attributed slow in-person voting to subpar training in the state’s new voting machines and safety measures put in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Statewide, more than three-fourths of the roughly 1.2 million early votes ahead of the primary were cast by mail, marking a historic absentee effort as election officials pressed for increased participation in vote-by-mail to help curb the spread of the virus.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger stressed the voting challenges Tuesday that more time will be needed to tally up votes before final election results can be declared.