2018 Georgia State Elections

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Georgia on November 6, 2018. All of Georgia's executive officers were up for election, as well as all of Georgia's fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives. Neither U.S. Senate seat was up for election in 2018. The Republican Party won every statewide office in 2018.

Governor

Incumbent Republican governor Nathan Deal was term-limited and unable to seek re-election to a third consecutive term.

Secretary of State Brian Kemp won the Republican nomination, defeating incumbent Republican lieutenant governor Casey Cagle in a runoff election. Georgia General Assembly Minority Leader Stacey Abrams won the Democratic nomination. Ted Metz ran for the Libertarian Party. Kemp beat Abrams following a very divisive campaign.

Lieutenant governor

Potential Republican candidates included Georgia Senate President Pro Tempore David Shafer, State Representative Geoff Duncan, Senate Majority Leader Bill Cowsert, State Senator Butch Miller, State Senator Burt Jones, Secretary of State Brian Kemp, Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols and former adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard Jim Butterworth. State Representative Allen Peake was also speculated as a potential candidate, but ruled out a bid.

As of November 2017, the declared Democratic candidate was Sarah Riggs Amico, an auto executive. Potential Democratic candidates included 2010 Attorney General nominee, former Dougherty County District Attorney Ken Hodges.

Democratic primary

* Sarah Riggs Amico, businesswoman
* Triana Arnold James, small business owner and veteran

Primary results

Republican primary

* Geoff Duncan, state representative
* Rick Jeffares, state senator
* David Shafer, state senator

Primary results

Runoff results

General election

Attorney general

Incumbent Republican attorney general Sam Olens resigned to become president of Kennesaw State University effective November 1, 2016, with Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Christopher M. "Chris" Carr being appointed to serve the remainder of the term. Carr would be eligible to run for election to a full term in 2018.

Potential Republican candidates included State Senator Josh McKoon and former state representative B.J. Pak.

Potential Democratic candidates included State Representative Stacey Evans and former Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission Chair Lester Tate. 2010 nominee and former Dougherty County District Attorney Ken Hodges was considered a potential candidate, but decided to run for a seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals instead. Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson ruled out running for attorney general. As of July 2018, Charlie Bailey, former Senior Assistant District Attorney in the Fulton County District Attorney's office, was running.

Democratic primary

* Charlie Bailey, former Fulton County Senior Assistant District Attorney

Primary results

Republican primary

* Chris Carr, incumbent

Primary results

General election

'' Governing'' magazine projected the race as "leans Republican".

Secretary of state

Incumbent Republican secretary of state Brian Kemp ran for governor.

State Representative Buzz Brockway ran for the Republican nomination. Other potential Republican candidates included Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle and State Senators Steve Gooch, John Albers, and Michael Williams.

The Democratic nominee was former U.S. Representative from Georgia's 12th congressional district, John Barrow, who defeated Dee Dawkins-Haigler and Rakeim "RJ" Hadley in the primary.

The Libertarian candidate was Smythe Duval. He won the nomination at the Georgia State Libertarian Convention in February 2018.

Democratic primary

* John Barrow, former U.S. representative
* Dee Dawkins-Haigler, former state representative and candidate for the state senate in 2016
* RJ Hadley, former Rockdale County Tax Commissioner and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010

Primary results

Republican primary

* Buzz Brockway, state representative
* David Belle Isle, mayor of Alpharetta
* Joshua McKoon, state senator
* Brad Raffensperger, state representative

Primary results

Runoff results

General election

Runoff results

Commissioner of Agriculture

Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black was eligible to run for re-election to a third term in office.

Fred Swann was the Democratic candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture.

Democratic primary

* Fred Swann

Primary results

Republican primary

* Gary Black, incumbent

Primary results

General election

Commissioner of Insurance

Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Insurance Ralph Hudgens did not run for re-election.

Cindy Zeldin, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, ran for the Democratic nomination.

Donnie Foster won the Libertarian nomination for Insurance Commissioner at the Georgia Libertarian Convention in February 2018.

Democratic primary

* Janice Laws
* Cindy Zeldin, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future

Primary results

Republican primary

* Jim Beck, former Deputy Insurance Commissioner
* Jay Florence
* Tracy Jordan

Primary results

General election

Commissioner of Labor

Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler was eligible to run for re-election to a third term in office.

Democratic primary

* Richard Keatley
* Fred Quinn

Primary results

Republican primary

* Mark Butler, incumbent

Primary results

General election

State Superintendent of Schools

Incumbent Republican State Superintendent of Schools Richard Woods ran for re-election to a second term in office.

Potential Democratic candidates included Georgia Association of Educators president Sid Chapman and former National PTA President Otha Thornton.

Democratic primary

* Sid Chapman, president of the Georgia Association of Educators
* Sam Mosteller
* Otha E. Thornton Jr., former National PTA president

Primary results

Runoff results

Republican primary

* John Barge, former Georgia Superintendent of Schools
* Richard Woods, incumbent

Primary results

General election

Public Service Commission

Elections were held for District 3 (Metro Atlanta) and District 5 (Western Georgia) of the Georgia Public Service Commission.

District 3

Democratic primary

* Lindy Miller
* John Noel
* Johnny C. White

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Republican primary

* Chuck Eaton, incumbent.

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General Election

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=Runoff

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District 5

Democratic primary

* Dawn A. Randolph
* Doug Stoner

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Republican primary

* John Hitchins III
* Tricia Pridemore, incumbent

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General Election

General Assembly

State senate

All 56 seats in the Georgia State Senate were up for election in 2018.

State House

All 180 seats in the Georgia House of Representatives were up for election in 2018.

United States House of Representatives

All of Georgia's fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. Democrats flipped one seat that elected a Republican in the previous election, resulting in them holding five of the state's 14 seats.

Judicial elections

Five seats on the Georgia Supreme Court and seven seats on the Georgia Court of Appeals were up for statewide elections. Of these, only one was contested - the seat of Court of Appeals judge John Ellington who ran for Supreme Court following the retirement of Carol Hunstein.

Ken Hodges, the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Georgia in 2010, defeated attorney Ken Shigley in a nonpartisan election.

Court of Appeals (Ellington's seat)

Ballot measures

Amendment 1

Creates the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund to protect water quality, wildlife habitat, and parks.

Amendment 2

Creates a state-wide business court to lower costs, enhance efficiency, and promote predictable judicial outcomes.

Amendment 3

Encourages the conservation, sustainability, and longevity of Georgia's working forests through tax subclassification and grants.

Amendment 4

Provides rights for victims of crime in the judicial process. Inspired by Marsy's Law.

Amendment 5

Authorizes fair allocation of sales tax proceeds to county and city school districts.

Referendum A

Provides for a homestead exemption for residents of certain municipal corporations.

Referendum B

Provides a tax exemption for certain homes for the mentally disabled.

Controversies

The gubernatorial race was particularly controversial during the 2018 elections, as Republican candidate Brian Kemp was also the Georgia Secretary of State, a position which involves overseeing the electoral process, leading to allegations of conflicts of interests. Despite calls from Georgia Democrats, organizations such as the NAACP and Common Cause, and former president Jimmy Carter, Kemp did not relinquish the position until after the election.

Accusations were also leveled at Kemp with regards to the purging of voter rolls that was done under his oversight. Removing names from voter rolls is a common practice in the case of voters who are deceased or have moved out of state, but since 2017, the practice had spiked in Georgia. Due to strict voting rules in Georgia, tens of thousands of citizens lost their right to vote because of otherwise trivial issues, such as small differences between pieces of identification or insufficiently similar signatures. Kemp was accused of using the voter roll purge as a tactic to disenfranchise more than half a million people, predominantly African-Americans, which has been likened to voter suppression.

References

External links

Candidates
at Vote Smart
Candidates
at Ballotpedia
Campaign finance
at OpenSecrets

Official Attorney General campaign websites
*
Chris Carr (R) for Attorney General

Official Commissioner of Agriculture campaign websites
Gary Black (R) for Agriculture CommissionerFred Swann (D) for Agriculture Commissioner

Official Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner campaign websites
Jim Beck (R) for Agriculture CommissionerJanice Laws (D) for Agriculture Commissioner

Official Commissioner of Labor campaign websites
Mark Butler (R) for Labor Commissioner

Official State Superintendent of Schools campaign websites
Otha Thornton (D) for State SuperintendentRichard Woods (R) for State Superintendent

Official Public Service Commission district 3 campaign websites
Chuck Eaton (R) for Public Service CommissionerLindy Miller (D) for Public Service Commissioner

Official Public Service Commission district 5 campaign websites
Tricia Pridemore (R) for Public Service CommissionerDawn Randolph (D) for Public Service Commissioner

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