John Watson, Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, is ready to go to work to win back Republican State House and Senate seats lost in the November 7 special elections.
“We are starting to work on that now, and I feel confident that a year from now those seats will be back in Republican hands,” said Watson.
In the November 7 special elections, Democrats picked up two seats in the Georgia’s House of Representatives. Deborah Gonzales won House District 117 to replace Republican Regina Quick with 53 percent of the voter. Gonzales beat out Republican challenger Houston Gaines, who took 47 percent. Jonathan Wallace won House District 119, to replace Chuck Williams, with 56 percent of the vote. Republican challengers Tom Lord pulled in 20 percent, Marcus Wiedower got 17 percent and Steven Strickland garnered 6 percent. Both seats are in the Athens area.
In a race to replace District 6 Republican Senator Hunter Hill – who resigned to run for Governor — Democrats Jen Jordan (24%) and Jaha Howard (23%) moved into a runoff. While two Democrats advanced to a runoff, Watson pointed out that the five Republicans in this race actually received more combined votes than the Democrats.
“That’s the problem with special elections,” said Watson. “They are generic, and Democrats and Republicans are on the same ballot. In this race, the Republicans got more raw votes — but they split their votes and the two Democrats moved into the runoff.
“In a normal General Election, we would have had a Republican and a Democrat going against each other. With that said, I feel confident about getting this seat back in the next general election,” said Watson.
In the aftermath of these elections, State Sen. Josh McKoon, a Republican candidate for Secretary of State, announced that he will file legislation that would require both parties to nominate their own candidates in a special election. McKoon’s measure would establish party primaries in special elections rather than employing the wide-open races that state law now requires.
McKoon called the November 7 results “an injustice to the citizens of this state to be denied fair representation.” Democrats have criticized McKoon’s proposal as an attempt to circumvent his party’s defeat at the polls.
Watson said Democrats turned out in large numbers in Athens for the Nov. 7 special election, which also included a TSPLOST vote on the ballot.
“They (Democrats) did their job of getting voters out. As Republicans, we must make certain we reach out to promote our candidates and get out voters to the polls,” said Watson. “That is the responsibility of the party, and we have already started working on this for the 2018 election.”
Watson pointed out that Republicans did hold on to two key seats in Dalton and Forsyth-Cumming. Republican Kasey Carpenter won the House District 4 seat to replace Bruce Broadrick (Republican) and Republican Marc Morris won the House District 26 seat to replace Geoff Duncan (Republican candidate for Lt. Governor).
“We must maintain constant vigilance and get our voters to the polls,” said Watson. “We can’t take any seat for granted.”
Asked if he would urge Legislators to look at re-drawing lines for any of the House or Senate seats next year, Watson said he felt “redistricting is the responsibility of the General Assembly, not the party Chairman.”
