Two Democratic incumbents from the Athens area were upset by Republican challengers as the final votes from Clarke County were tabulated shortly before 9:00 this morning. Rep. Deborah Gonzales fell to Republican Houston Gaines, 54% to 46% in District 117. In neighboring District 119, incumbent Democrat Jonathan Wallace lost to Republican Marcus Wiedower, 53% to 47%. Gonzalez and Wallace were both elected in a high-profile special election last November. The third member of Athens' delegation to the Georgia House, Rep. Spencer Frye, was unopposed.
While the two state house races have finally been decided, the hotly contested race for governor remains undecided. With at least one county still tabulating votes, Republican Brian Kemp held a narrow lead over Democrat Stacey Abrams. Kemp is currently at 50.41%, which gives him an outright victory, but if neither Kemp nor Abrams end up with over 50% of the total vote, the race will go to a December 4 runoff. Libertarian Ted Metz has just under one percent of the vote. Speaking to supporters in Athens early this morning, Kemp expressed his confidence in an eventual victory. Abrams, speaking to supporters in Atlanta just before 2:00 AM, said that the race was going to a runoff. Abrams' campaign cited the number of uncounted votes, as well as provisional votes as factors in their prediction.
Other races are also still too close to call. In US House District 6, Republican incumbent Karen Handel and her Democratic challenger Lucy McBath are in a virtual tie. Handel was elected in a special election last year which was the most expensive House race in US history. In US House District 7, the race between incumbent Republican Rob Woodall and Democrat Carolyn Bordeaux is also too close to call. At the time of writing, fewer than 3,000 votes separated the two candidates, out of over 271,000 votes cast. As of 9:26 this morning, NPR News still considered both races too close to call, although Georgia Public Broadcasting political analyst Bill Nigut says that Woodall will see a narrow win.
Some statewide races may be headed to a December runoff election, regardless of the outcome of the governor's race. In the contest for Secretary of State, neither Republican Brad Raffensberger nor Democrat John Barrow have yet garnered over 50% of the vote, and the same is true in the race for Public Service Commission District 3. In both of those races, Libertarian candidates have taken over 2% of the vote, and could be the spoiler that forces a runoff. In other Athens-area races, Republican incumbents Bill Cowsert and Frank Ginn cruised to victory in their State Senate contests, defeating Democrats Marisue Hilliard and Dawn Johnson.
