Between the early early voting, the delayed voting, the actual voting and the runoff voting, it feels like pretty much every day of 2020 will be a voting day.
But today is Runoff Day.
The winners from today will be on the ballot in November for the real thing – or if there is no opposing candidate outside of the primary, a few races might be decided today.
Many of the races today are for School Board or local judicial races but there are a few high profile races worth taking a look at for InsiderAdvantage readers:
U.S. House District 14 Republican
– The race to succeed the retiring Tom Graves is probably the most high-profile on Tuesday’s contests, thanks to some of the controversial statements from candidate Marjorie Greene. Greene has said there is an “Islamic invasion of our government” and has expressed belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory, drawing condemnations from many Republicans. Some Republicans are staying silent on the race but Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-R 1) House Minority Leader Steve Scalise and others are openly supporting John Cowan, a neurosurgeon, in the race.
U.S. House District 9 Republican
– With Doug Collins looking to move into the U.S. Senate, State Rep. Matt Gurtler – notorious for voting “No” on nearly everything at the Gold Dome, sometimes to the notable frustration of Republican leadership – faces U.S. Navy veteran and gun store owner Andrew Clyde to head to November. Clyde supports doing away with federal background check requirements and waiting periods.
Both the District 14 and District 9 winners today are likely headed to Congress as the districts lean heavily Republican and a Democrat challenger would have a very hard time winning a general election.
State Senate District 31
– On the state Senate level, longtime Republican officeholder from Bremen Bill Heath will be replaced by either former Dallas Mayor Boyd Austin or Paulding County School Board Member Jason Anavitarte. Austin
Fulton County District Attorney
– Longtime Fulton DA Paul Howard is facing a challenger this year and with no Republican qualified for the general, the winner will be decided today. Fani Willis is hoping to capitalize on a number of negative stories about Howard. Sexual harassment claims by former employees and a bizarre story about a salary boost from a nonprofit he headed as CEO have dogged him throughout the campaign. And Howard’s charging of two Atlanta police officers involved in the Rayshard Brooks shooting has been tagged as a political stunt by Willis.
Besides the obvious candidate choosing, it’s also the final time elections officials will have a live “practice” of this year’s new voting machines. A wave of new election volunteers – with many of the normal elderly volunteers bowing out due to Covid-19 – will have a chance to go through a mini-version of what November could look like. The day may also bring out some new information regarding mail-in ballots.
The proportion of mail-ins is expected to be much higher than normal in November and, on Monday, the State Elections Board approved the creation of a website to allow for absentee ballot requests and the Board also approved an earlier start time for verifying and scanning the mailed paper ballots. The earlier start time for verification may help to avoid possibly delayed results due to the time required to count the mailed ballots.
