Georgia 2012 Election Results

Georgia held its general election on November 6, 2012, deciding 235 legislative seats. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans reached a two-thirds Senate supermajority, 38-18, though the last seat they needed came only in a January special election in District 30, won by Mike Dugan (R). In the House, they finished one seat shy of a supermajority, with independent Rusty Kidd (I) holding a seat outside the Republican caucus.
• The gains came on the first maps Republicans drew after the 2010 census, and GPB reported the party was nearing supermajorities largely because of redistricting. Senate Democratic Caucus chair Doug Stoner (D) had been targeted in the 2011 redistricting, and Hunter Hill (R) defeated him in the redrawn Senate District 6 by about 6 points.
• In all, 3 legislative seats changed party, all toward Republicans, and each cost a Democratic incumbent their seat. Besides Stoner, two House Democrats lost:
  • Trey Kelley (R) beat Rick Crawford (D) by nearly 40 points in House District 16.
  • Eddie Lumsden (R) edged Barbara Massey Reece (D), who had represented the old District 11, by about 500 votes in House District 12.
  Mike Cheokas (R), who had represented the old District 134, held House District 138 by about 210 votes over Kevin T. Brown (D). Most seats were never in play: 181 of the 235 races were uncontested, and William Perry of Common Cause Georgia called the general election for state offices "a formality".
• Voters approved both constitutional amendments. Amendment 1, which allowed the General Assembly to create a state commission to approve charter schools, passed by a much larger margin than expected. Amendment 2 let state agencies enter multiyear rental agreements for office space.

Legislature

• House (180 seats): 63 D, 115 R, 2 other or vacant before the election, 60 D, 119 R, 1 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (56 seats): 20 D, 36 R before the election, 18 D, 38 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Legislative races

Ballot measures