State Sen. Mike Crane and former West Point Mayor Drew Ferguson appear to be headed to a runoff in the race to fill the congressional seat long held by Lynn Westmoreland in Georgia's 3rd District.
The Associated Press called the race late Tuesday evening. Unofficial returns had the pair within a few dozen votes of one another as the clock struck midnight.
Crane and Ferguson will face off in a July 26 runoff since neither appeared to garner at least 50 percent of the GOP vote in the district, which stretches from Peachtree City to the Columbus suburbs and north along the Alabama border.
The winner of that race will face the victor of the 3rd District's Democratic primary in November. The latter contest, which pitted Newnan pastor Tamarkus Cook against Grantville volunteer Angela Pendley, was too close to call as of midnight.
The Republican nominee is heavily favored to ultimately win the seat in this deep-red district, which voted for Mitt Romney by a margin of 2-to-1 in 2012.
Crane and Ferguson, a dentist, were neck-and-neck for most of Tuesday evening, along with Peachtree City businessman Jim Pace.
We'll also have more updates and analysis later this morning. Stay tuned....
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