Jim Kingston avoids upset in Coastal Georgia U.S. House race

SAVANNAH ― A Kingston is headed back to the U.S. House of Representatives. But just barely.

Jim Kingston, a 36-year-old insurance professional and the son of former U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, edged his Democratic opponent Amanda Hollowell in Tuesday’s midterms by about 8,000 votes, according to unofficial results.

The margin is less than 3 percentage points, making it the closest 1st Congressional District race in decades. The win kept the seat in Republican hands for the 18th straight election dating to Jack Kingston’s first win in 1992.

Jim Kingston, a first-time candidate, will succeed Rep. Buddy Carter when the new Congress convenes in January. Carter ran a failed primary bid for U.S. Senate earlier this year.

“I was told I was too young to run for Congress, I was told I didn’t have enough government experience, I was told I should run for a smaller government office first,” Kingston said at a campaign victory party at a downtown Savannah special events venue, Savannah Station. “But we ignored conventional thinking and said, ‘What if we went back to a better time when American government functioned properly?’”

Kingston had to wait deep into the evening to learn he’d won. Hollowell held a slim edge for more than three hours after the polls closed at 7 p.m. before the ballots tipped in Kingston’s favor around 10:20 p.m. By that point, the district’s Democratic strongholds — Savannah and nearby Liberty County — had all been counted, portending a Kingston victory.

Still, the candidate waited until 11:15 p.m. to speak to supporters.

A few blocks away at Hollowell’s watch party, the first-time candidate and public policy professional mingled with supporters for about 90 minutes prior to Kingston seizing the lead.

She told the crowd she was encouraged by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms’ wins earlier in the evening and said strength at the top of the ticket lent hope that the downballot races, including hers, would turn out the same way.

Hollowell expressed optimism about her upset bid throughout the final weeks of the race. An election eve social media post by President Donald Trump, in which he attacked her as a “radical,” buoyed her hopes even more.

“I was like, ‘Thank God,’ because that solidified what we’d known for a long time — that we were a threat,” Hollowell said. “The seat is open, and it’s not just given to a Republican.”