Casey Cagle, Brian Kemp, and Stacey Abrams emerged as the biggest winners on election night, but with hundreds of other elections around the state there were plenty of others giving victory speeches.
In the race for Lt. Governor former state Sen. David Shafer (R) narrowly missed out on an outright win, but he will settle for a commanding lead over former state Rep. Geoff Duncan in the runoff. Sarah Riggs Amico narrowly defeated Triana Arnold James for the Dems, a disappointing result considering the former’s massive fundraising edge.
Former state Rep. Brad Raffensperger and former Alpharetta mayor David Belle Isle will face off in a runoff to receive the GOP nomination for Secretary of State, with former state Rep. Buzz Brockway and former state Sen. Josh McKoon failing to advance. The winner will meet former Democratic U.S. Congressman John Barrow, a formidable opponent for the eventual Republican candidate.
Jim Beck will be the GOP’s nominee for Insurance Commissioner, scoring an impressive outright win in his primary against two opponents. He will face Janice Laws in the general election.
Incumbent Richard Woods held off the man who formerly held his job as State School Superintendent, defeating John Barge by 11%. He will see one of Otha Thornton or Sid Chapman in November.
Over in the Public Service Commission incumbent Republican Chuck Eaton will square off against Democrat Lindy Miller, while recently appointed Tricia Pridemore (R) won her runoff and will meet Dawn Randolph.
There were too many primaries in the state legislature to name, but some highlights:
SD-5 (Tucker) – Longtime Democratic state Sen. and chairman of the Special Judiciary Committee Curt Thompson was upset by Sheikh Rahman, who has no Republican opponent.
SD-6 (Atlanta) – Leah Aldridge finally got the Republican nod, and will now take another shot at incumbent Dem Jen Jordan in the general.
SD-27 (Cumming) – Republican Greg Dolezal won the primary and will likely replace gubernatorial candidate Michael Williams in this dark red district, but will first have to take on Democratic underdog Steve Smith.
HD-8 (Clayton) – Republican Matt Gurtler fended off a high profile attack from Mickey Cummings, who was backed by such high profile names as Governor Nathan Deal and Speaker David Ralston. Gurtler has drawn the ire of GOP leadership by voting against many of their pet bills, but will survive to see another session with no Democratic opposition.
HD-15 (Cartersville) – Matthew Gambill, executive director of the Georgia Association for Career & Technical Education, won the seat vacated by Republican Paul Battles upon his retirement.
HD-28 (Homer) – Incumbent Republican Dan Gasaway was upset by Chris Erwin by a narrow margin. There is no Democrat in the race.
HD-36 (Powder Springs) – Ginny Ehrhart, the wife of the former Representative for the seat, Earl, will face off with fellow Republican Thomas Gray in what promises to be a tight runoff.
HD-48 (Roswell) – Incumbent Betty Price staved off a vengeance-fueled Jere Wood, the former mayor of Roswell who lost that seat in a much publicized decision, and blamed it on Price.
