Anderson’s narrow runoff win for Ga. Senate confirmed

Winning by 10 votes, former state Rep. Tonya Anderson defeated Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler in last month's Democratic primary election runoff for Senate District 43, according to official election results.

Anderson’s victory sets up a rematch against Republican Sen. JaNice Van Ness in November’s general election.

When the two candidates last met in a special election last December, Van Ness won by 1 percentage point. Democrats are hoping to retake the Senate seat in this November's higher-turnout general election.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp on Friday certified the July 26 runoff results, confirming Anderson's slim margin of victory out of 8,542 votes cast.

Anderson, who served in the House from 2013 to 2015, won the parts of the Senate district in Newton and Rockdale counties, while Dawkins-Haigler led among DeKalb County voters. A recount hasn’t been requested, DeKalb election officials said Monday.

Van Ness, the founder of Peachtree Academy Private School and Early Childhood Centers in Conyers, won a special election last year after Sen. Ronald Ramsey, D-Lithonia, was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal to become a judge in DeKalb County State Court's Traffic Division.

By running for state Senate, Dawkins-Haigler opened the door for five candidates to run for her Lithonia House District without having to face an incumbent.