The Georgia General Assembly almost got a lot more interesting.
Killer Mike, a famous rapper best known for his involvement with the group Run the Jewels, announced Monday that he was running as a write-in candidate for representative of Georgia's 55th district in the state legislature. However, he later posted on Instagram saying he couldn't run since he never registered as a write-in candidate.
According to Georgia law, write-in votes are only counted in elections if the candidate has filed an official notice of his or her candidacy with the Secretary of State.
In Killer Mike's original announcement, which was also made on the artist's Instagram page, he asked that voters write in his real name, Michael Render, on ballots during Tuesday's special election.
The 55th district seat was vacated in April after longtime politican and civil rights leader Rep. Tyrone Brooks pleaded guilty to tax fraud. In order to win the election, the Outkast collaborator would have had to defeat seven other democratic candidates — including Brooks' son — who have been campaigning in Atlanta for months.
The announcement came in the wake of several politically charged talk show appearances by Render, including HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher" in May and CNN in December. An Atlanta-native, he has been a particularly outspoken advocate of criminal justice and prison reform, views that could have proved to be an obstacle for separating Render from the rest of the liberal pack.
Although write-in winners are rare, if Render had been able to use name recognition to his advantage, he may have been able to win what will likely be a low-turnout election.
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