Georgia 2020 Election Results

General Election, November 3, 2020

Georgia held its general election on November 3, 2020, deciding 235 legislative seats and the office of Public Service Commissioner District 1. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Even as the top of the ticket swung toward Democrats, their push to flip the Georgia House fell well short. Republicans kept both chambers, and with them control of redistricting on the post-2020-census maps.
• After flipping 13 House seats in 2018, Democrats needed 16 more for a majority but netted two House seats and one Senate seat. Down-ballot Republicans ran ahead of President Trump; one political scientist said some voters who backed Joe Biden still voted Republican for the legislature.
  • In the House, Rebecca Mitchell (D) unseated Ways and Means Chairman Brett Harrell (R) in District 106 by about 17 points. Regina Lewis-Ward (D) beat Rep. Dale Rutledge (R) in District 109 in a rematch of their 2018 race. Shea Roberts (D) ousted Rep. Deborah Silcox (R) in District 52 by fewer than 400 votes.
  • In the Senate, Nikki Merritt (D) unseated Sen. P.K. Martin (R) in District 9 by about 4 points, Democrats' only Senate pickup.
  • Republicans fended off challenges to several other suburban Atlanta lawmakers.
• Republicans' biggest prize was House Minority Leader Bob Trammell, Jr. (D), the only Democratic lawmaker holding a rural seat that had long gone Republican. David Jenkins (R) unseated him in District 132 by about 670 votes. The Republican State Leadership Committee put $1 million behind Jenkins, and House Democrats later chose Rep. James Beverly of Macon to succeed Trammell as leader.
• On the Public Service Commission, where a candidate needs a majority to avoid a runoff, Jason Shaw (R) kept his District 1 seat with just over 50% against Robert G. Bryant (D) and Elizabeth Melton (L). In District 4, Commissioner Lauren McDonald (R) fell just short of a majority in November and was forced into a January 5 runoff alongside the U.S. Senate runoffs. Daniel Blackman (D) attacked the commission over power shutoffs during the pandemic and the overbudget Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion, but McDonald beat him by less than a point, keeping the all-Republican commission intact.
• In all, 5 incumbents lost in November, four Republicans and one Democrat. Beyond the flips, 3 more races finished inside two points, all Republican holds: Rep. Ed Setzler (R), author of the "heartbeat" abortion bill signed in 2019, won House District 35 by about 280 votes, Rep. Sharon Cooper (R) won House District 43 by fewer than 500, and Sen. Brian Strickland (R) held Senate District 17 by about 2 points.
• Voters approved all three ballot questions by wide margins. Amendment 1 lets lawmakers dedicate fees to the purpose they were collected for, after governors and legislatures repeatedly diverted such fees into the general fund. Amendment 2 waived sovereign immunity so residents can sue the state and local governments to block unlawful actions, though not for money damages. Referendum A exempted from property tax land that charities hold to build or repair single-family homes, pitched as an affordable-housing measure.

Legislature

• House (180 seats): 73 D, 105 R, 2 other or vacant before the election, 77 D, 103 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (56 seats): 20 D, 36 R before the election, 22 D, 34 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures

Runoffs, January 5, 2021

Georgia held runoffs on January 5, 2021, deciding the office of Public Service Commissioner District 4.

Statewide races