Gov. Brian Kemp on Saturday set a special election for June 9 to replace longtime Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Hill, a Reidsville Republican who died earlier this week.

Kemp set the special election on the same day Georgia voters will be going to the polls to pick Republican and Democratic nominees for a host of offices, including president, U.S. senator and state legislative posts.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Thursday announced the primary elections would be moved from May 19 to June 9 because of the coronavirus, citing health concerns for voters and poll workers.

Hill, who for more than a decade shepherded Georgia's budget through the Senate, died Monday at his office  He was 75.

Hill was sworn into the Georgia Senate in 1991 as a Democrat. A retired grocer, Hill switched parties after the 2002 election, helping throw the Senate to the Republicans. He was rewarded by being named chairman of the Senate budget committee.

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Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced her bid for Georgia governor in May. (Ben Gray for the AJC)

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. (center) is flanked by GOP whip Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. (left) and Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, as Thune speak to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. Earlier Tuesday, the Senate passed the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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