Hanson defeats Bennett for Brookhaven-area House seat

Meagan Hanson won election for House District 80.

Meagan Hanson won election for House District 80.

Meagan Hanson, a Republican attorney, won a tight election Tuesday against Democratic Rep. Taylor Bennett for a Georgia House of Representatives seat.

Hanson's victory regains House District 80 for Republicans after Bennett, an attorney and former Georgia Tech quarterback, had won it in a special election last year. The district includes Brookhaven, Chamblee and Sandy Springs in DeKalb and Fulton counties.

Bennett lost Tuesday’s election by about 1 percentage point.

Bennett had defeated former Brookhaven Mayor J. Max Davis, a Republican, for the seat in August 2015 after the district’s previous representative, Mike Jacobs, became a DeKalb State Court judge.

The Republican-leaning district flipped parties again in Tuesday’s higher-turnout general election.

Hanson had won a Republican primary against Alan Cole in an election last July.