The second time’s the charm for Carolyn Bourdeaux.
The Suwanee Democrat has won Georgia’s 7th Congressional District.
This was Bourdeaux’s second run for the seat. Her first, in 2018, was the closest congressional race in the country that year. She lost to incumbent U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall by only 433 votes.
As of Friday afternoon, Bourdeaux was leading Republican opponent Rich McCormick by more than 8,600 votes, a margin of 2.7 percentage points in a district that spans most of Gwinnett County and southern Forsyth County.
Bourdeaux declared victory Wednesday morning, but The Associated Press waited until Friday afternoon to call the race in her favor.
McCormick has not yet conceded, and his campaign has said it is waiting on Gwinnett’s full results. Gwinnett County finished tabulating 7,083 outstanding ballots around 5 p.m. Friday.
“The 7th Congressional District is ready for change,” Bourdeaux said in a Wednesday morning Facebook Live address. “I am here to be an advocate on behalf of the people of this district.”
The 7th District is the only battleground seat that House Democrats have picked up this year. The party lost competitive seats in seven states, and it gained two seats in North Carolina due to redistricting.
In the neighboring 6th District, also highly competitive, incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath held her seat against former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel.
The 7th District has been held by Republicans for 25 years, and until Bourdeaux’s first campaign in 2018, Democrats hadn’t come within 20 points of victory in more than a decade.
