ATLANTA – Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Sarah Riggs Amico demanded Wednesday that every vote be counted a day after a primary election marred by confusion over new voting machines and poorly trained poll workers.
With about 81% of the vote counted by Wednesday afternoon, Ossoff, an investigative journalist, held a big lead with 49% of the vote, according to unofficial results posted by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office.
But that wasn’t enough to avoid a potential runoff in August with former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson, who was in second with 14%, or possibly Amico, a businesswoman, in third place with 13% of the vote.
In Georgia, candidates in a primary must receive 50%-plus-one of the votes to avoid a runoff against the second-place finisher, which in this case still could be either Tomlinson or Amico.
In an afternoon news conference Wednesday, Ossoff pointed to more than a quarter million ballots still to be counted, including absentee and provisional votes, in addition to absentee ballots that weren’t cast at all because the recipients never received them from the secretary of state’s office or got them too late to return them in time.
Ossoff said some voters waited up to six hours in line to vote, while some didn’t get to vote at all because of the delays.
“What happened yesterday was an outrage by any standards,” he said. “It was a comprehensive failure by state and county [elections] officials.”
“Protecting the right of every eligible voter to cast their ballot and have it accurately counted is a sacred duty for those who serve in elected office,” Amico added. “The secretary of state must assure Georgians he is committed to counting every ballot fairly cast in the primary election, including provisional and absentee ballots, and take active steps to fix this system immediately.”
Whoever emerges from the Democratic primary with the nomination will challenge Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., in November.
It wasn’t just Democrats complaining about how primary Election Day was handed in Georgia.
On Tuesday, Georgia Republican House Speaker David Ralston ordered a lawmaker-led investigation into the “unacceptable deficiencies” of the primary.
In light of the number of votes remaining to be counted, Amico cautioned candidates not to claim victory based on partial results.
Ossoff agreed, declining to discuss the results to reporters.
“It’s far too early to talk about outcomes,” he said. “When we’re satisfied all the votes have been counted, we can talk about the next step.”
But Tomlinson wasn’t reticent to declare her candidacy in the Aug. 11 runoff against Ossoff, despite her narrow advantage over Amico at this point and the possibility Ossoff could win the primary outright if he climbs above 50%.
Now that most [of the votes] have been counted, it appears that for the third time in his political career, Jon Ossoff has failed to break the 50% needed to avoid a runoff,” Tomlinson said in a prepared statement.
“Now that it is a two-person race, we are looking forward to voters learning more about my record as a successful two-term mayor and public safety director who has won elections and governed and governed well.”
Amico wasn’t the only third-place Democrat not ready to concede on Wednesday.
Nabilah Islam, seeking Georgia’s Gwinnett County-based 7th Congressional District seat, noted there are still about 30,000 outstanding absentee and provisional ballots yet to be counted.
According to the numbers posted by Raffensperger’s office Wednesday afternoon, Islam was about a point and a half behind the second-place candidate, state Rep. Brenda Lopez Romero of Norcross.
College professor Carolyn Bourdeaux, who narrowly lost the 7th District race two years ago to retiring Republican Rep. Rob Woodall, is in first place but without the majority of votes needed to avoid a runoff.
“Yesterday’s election saw historic turnout,” Islam said Wednesday. “All across Georgia, people stood in lines for hours and hours. The least we can do, after their tremendous efforts, is guarantee that their voice will be fully heard and their votes counted.”
The winner of the 7th District Democratic runoff will face Dr. Rich McCormick, who won the Republican primary handily over state Sen. Renee Unterman of Buford and five other candidates.
Other runoffs will take place Aug. 11 pitting Republicans Matt Gurtler and Andrew Clyde in Northeast Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, and between 9th District Democrats Brooke Siskin and Devin Pandy. The respective runoff winners will compete for the vacancy being left by Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
In the 13th Congressional District, veteran incumbent Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, will have to go an extra round with former state Rep. Keisha Waites to win his party’s nomination. The Democratic runoff winner will oppose Republican Becky Hites, who easily won the 13th District GOP primary, in November.
And in the 14th District, Marjorie Taylor Greene and John Cowan emerged to take the top two spots in a crowded Republican primary field looking to succeed Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, who is not seeking re-election. The GOP runoff winner will be a huge favorite in the heavily Republican district over Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal, who won his party’s nomination Tuesday unopposed.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s U.S. Senate primary went into the wee hours Wednesday with the result far from certain.
With results trickling in very slowly in an election held with new voting machines and during the midst of a global pandemic, investigative journalist Jon Ossoff was on the edge of being forced into an August runoff for the right to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue.
However, Ossoff’s opponent in that potential race remained unclear, with the second- and third-place candidates separated by a thin margin.
With 72% of precincts statewide reporting as of 1 a.m., Ossoff had 48% of the vote, according to unofficial results, just shy of the 50%-plus-one margin under state law needed to avoid a runoff.
Former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson stood second with 15%, followed by Marietta businesswoman Sarah Riggs Amico with 13% of the vote.
Civil and human rights lawyer Maya Smith, a former director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Georgia chapter, was in fourth with 10% of the vote and likely out of the running. Three other candidates were in the single digits.
With the Democratic nomination undecided through Tuesday night, the candidates had to be content with criticizing the way Election Day was carried out by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office. Voters in some parts of the state waited more than three hours to cast ballots, and many precincts decided to open for up to three additional hours to accommodate the huge turnout.
“The secretary of state had ample time to prepare for a smooth transition to the new voting machines he championed,” Amico said late Tuesday afternoon. “He’s had months to prepare for an election in the midst of a pandemic. And yet, he has failed – spectacularly – to provide counties with the training and resources they need to conduct today’s election safely and fairly.”
Ossoff campaign manager Ellen Foster released a statement early Wednesday calling the way the election was handled “outrageous.”
“Georgians of all political persuasions expect an efficient and reliable voting process, and they expect their elected leaders to have the courage and integrity to admit their own errors,” Foster said. “Secretary Raffensperger today personally demonstrated the very worst in public leadership by not just failing in his basic responsibilities, but also refusing to acknowledge those failures.”
Gabriel Sterling, statewide voting implementation manager for the secretary of state, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo Tuesday night that 150 of Georgia’s 159 counties experienced no problems at the polls on Election Day. He said the vast majority of issues occurred in Fulton and DeKalb counties, which he blamed on inadequate training by local elections officials of an influx of younger poll workers replacing older volunteers wary of COVID-19, not the machines.
“Due to the nature of this election, we have said multiple times that election results will take time to receive, validate and post,” Sterling said in a statement released shortly before 1 a.m. “Voting in a pandemic has posed a variety of issues for the elections officials as well as the voters. We look forward to sharing full results.”
Ossoff was the leading fund-raiser in the race and held a commanding lead according to a poll released last week.
Karen Handel (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
ATLANTA – Former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel was well on her way late Tuesday night to winning the right to try to get her congressional seat back this fall.
While results were trickling in very slowly in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, Handel had built up a big enough lead to withstand a crowded field of opponents and avoid a runoff in August.
With 13.5% of precincts reporting as of midnight, Handel had piled up 71% of the vote, according to unofficial results. Her closest opponent was businessman and author Joe Profit, at just 18%.
Business owner Blake Harbin, former Small Business Administration loan specialist Mykel Barthelemy and retired hair salon owner Paula Smith were running in the single digits.
Handel will oppose Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath, who turned Handel out of office two years ago. McBath won the Democratic nomination for the seat running unopposed.
With a long political and business background in Georgia, Handel has built up tremendous name recognition. The Washington, D.C., native served as deputy chief of staff to then-Vice President Dan Quayle’s wife, Marilyn, before moving to Georgia.
Her business career has included a stint as president and CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce.
In politics, she has served as chairman of the Fulton County Commission, deputy chief of staff to then-Gov. Sonny Perdue and as Georgia secretary of state.
She ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010 and for the U.S. Senate in 2014 before winning the House seat in a special election three years ago in what turned out to be the most expensive congressional campaign in U.S. history.
McBath, a gun control advocate whose son was murdered in 2012, then defeated Handel in 2018, becoming the first Democrat in decades to hold the 6th District seat in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, a district once represented by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Georgia’s 6th Congressional District stretches from East Cobb County through North Fulton and North DeKalb counties.
ATLANTA – State Rep. Matt Gurtler and gun store owner Andrew Clyde appeared headed toward a runoff Tuesday night to decide the Republican nominee in Georgia’s 9th Congressional District Republican primary.
With 77% of precincts reporting in the Northeast Georgia district, Gurtler was in the lead with 25% of the vote, with Clyde running second with 21%, according to unofficial results.
With candidates in Georgia needing to win a majority of the vote to claim a primary nomination outright, Gurtler and Clyde likely will face off in an Aug. 11 runoff for the GOP nomination to succeed U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, who is leaving the House to run for the U.S. Senate.
Former U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, state Sen. John Wilkinson and state Rep. Kevin Tanner were next in the crowded Republican field in a virtual three-way tie at 13%.
Four other candidates were down in the single digits.
Gurtler, a general contractor, has built a reputation in the General Assembly for voting against bills more often than his colleagues. He touts that “Dr. No” record as his way of demonstrating his philosophy of limited government.
Clyde, a U.S. Navy veteran, not surprisingly is a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment. He supports doing away with federal background-check requirements and waiting periods Congress passed in 1993.
Meanwhile, a runoff also was the probable outcome in the 9th District Democratic primary. Also with 77% of the precincts tabulated, small business owner Brooke Siskin held a solid lead with 44% of the vote. However, that likely won’t be enough to avoid a runoff, probably against Devin Pandy, an actor and U.S. Army veteran.
Pandy was running second late Tuesday night with 29% of the vote, slightly ahead of Dan Wilson, a retired reverend, who with 27% support, still had a chance to overtake Pandy and make the runoff instead.
ATLANTA – Longtime environmental advocate Daniel Blackman was on his way Tuesday night toward easily capturing the Democratic nomination to run for the Georgia Public Service Commission’s District 4 seat.
With 39% of precincts reporting, Blackman held a commanding lead over energy-efficiency contractor John Noel with 71% of the vote to 29% for Noel, according to unofficial results.
Blackman will face veteran Republican Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald in November. McDonald is seeking a third consecutive six-term term on the PSC.
Blackman boasts a lengthy resume of environmental activism both in the business and nonprofit spheres. Professionally, he served as senior vice president for environmental affairs and sustainability at Capital Fortitude Business Advisors, where he managed client relationships.
As an advocate for environmental justice, he was appointed by the chairman of the National Wildlife Federation to serve on an Environmental Policy Commission co-sponsored by members of Congress to address renewable energy and public health issues in disadvantaged communities. He also worked with Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Environmental Working Group to set a mandated federal standard for genetically modified foods.
Blackman served as an advisor to the Congressional Black Caucus and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on environmental justice issues and was appointed by then-Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears to serve on the court’s Commission on Children, Marriage and Family Law.
Noel, a former state representative serving an Atlanta district, ran for the PSC two years ago but lost in the Democratic primary. He moved to Augusta in order to run for the District 4 commission seat.
Under a unique provision in state law, candidates for the PSC are elected statewide but must live in the district they represent. District 4 stretches across all of North Georgia and along the state’s border with South Carolina south through Augusta.
Meanwhile, Robert Bryant of Savannah won the Democratic nomination in South Georgia’s PSC District 1 running unopposed. He will challenge Republican Commissioner Jason Shaw, who is seeking his first full term after being appointed to the commission last year.
