In 2018 Georgia’s 7th Congressional District was the closest U.S. House race in the country, with incumbent Rep. Rob Woodall (R-7) defeating Democratic challenger Carolyn Bourdeaux by fewer than 500 votes – just 0.15 percentage points.
Accordingly it is considered one of the races to watch this November, when Democrats will be hoping to flip a seat that has been a Republican stronghold since being redrawn in 2010.
Before all that though, we have a pair of primaries to determine each party’s candidate – Woodall announced he would not be seeking re-election shortly after securing his nail-biter of a victory. We will cover the Democrat side later this week – but first a look at the GOP race, which is shaping up to be the state’s fiercest, and maybe nastiest, House primary.
There are 7 names on the Republican ballot, but from here it appears to be shaping up to be a two horse race between State Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Loganville) and Rich McCormick, a former marine and current emergency physician. Both candidates have impressive war chests and endorsement lists as they ready their campaigns barrel down the stretch towards the June primary.
Unterman has become one of the most visible Republican Senators during her 17 years under the Gold Dome, and she has the friends to prove it. With endorsements from former Gov. (and still wildly popular ) Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and an array of fellow legislators and mayors, it is clear that at least a good sized portion of the Republican establishment in Georgia is behind her. She also leads all candidates in fundraising, with $726,326 on hand as of the last reporting period ending March 31st.
A 17 year-career as a state Senator though can also go the other way, with some “outsider” elements of the GOP preferring to back another candidate. That candidate appears to be Rich McCormick, who has some big time endorsements of his own behind him.
Right-wing darling U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was an early supporter of McCormick, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) followed suit earlier this month. Interestingly failed 2018 gubernatorial candidates Hunter Hill and Clay Tippins have also backed the former marine pilot – pointing a finger at Unterman’s close relationship to former Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who had run-ins with both men before losing to now-Gov. Brian Kemp in a dramatic GOP primary runoff.
McCormick also has some big-money PAC’s behind him, including the Club for Growth PAC (which recently released a poll showing McCormick holding a lead over Unterman) and House Freedom Fund (a group chaired by Jordan).
The race has already seen some high drama – including a Fox5 investigation into McCormick possibly living, voting, and paying taxes in Florida, as well as accusations leveled in a cable tv ad that he refused to vote for President Donald Trump in 2016. McCormick says, for his part, that he was on military duty in Afghanistan during the election and that his absentee ballot was not processed correctly.
Unterman has taken some heat herself, including a nasty mailer that read, “Why the Bimbo?” but was unclaimed by any candidate.
A third candidate to watch out for would be Lynne Homrich, a former Home Depot executive who has posted some impressive fundraising hauls of her own, though she is mostly self-funded.
