Missing memory card could flip Georgia House race, narrow Democratic edge

A missing memory card discovered in southwest Georgia could cost Democrats a seat in the state House and narrow their newly won majority before they even take power.

State election officials said Friday they uncovered a discrepancy in Seminole County’s vote totals that led them to an uncounted memory card.

Once the votes were uploaded, Republican state Rep. Gerald Greene went from trailing Democrat Harry James by 58 votes to leading by 262.

Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he’s investigating how the error occurred.

If it stands, the reversal could rescue one of the Legislature’s most vulnerable GOP incumbents and leave Democrats with 92 seats in the 180-member chamber. That’s just one more than the 91 needed for a majority.

“I’m in disbelief,” Greene said Friday. “And I hope it sticks.”

James couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Even if Greene prevails, Democrats are still poised to take control of the House in January for the first time since 2005. But their majority could be as narrow as a single seat.

State Rep. Carolyn Hugley, the Columbus Democrat in line to become speaker in January, said her office is “following up and looking into the matter to determine if further action is needed.”

The final cushion hinges on two other races.

Republican state Rep. Soo Hong trails Democrat Chris Luchey by just 27 votes in a Lawrenceville-based race. That’s well within the margin that would allow Hong to request a recount.

And Republican state Rep. Mike Cheokas of Americus is headed to a Dec. 1 runoff against Democrat Ethan Wolfe. Although Cheokas was the top vote-getter, he fell short of a majority after independent candidate Travis Lockhart won 11% of the vote.

The Seminole County discrepancy emerged during routine postelection checks. Official with the Secretary of State’s office noticed that 388 more voters had been credited with casting Election Day ballots than the county had recorded votes, said Blake Evans, the office’s elections director.

“We contacted the county and they realized that they had missed a memory card,” he said.

Raffensperger said his probe will investigate how the memory card was overlooked, whether election procedures were followed, and what can be done to prevent other incidents in the future.

“This oversight didn’t just affect the numbers — it changed who was leading an election,” Raffensperger said. “That is unacceptable, and we intend to find out exactly how it happened.”

The Seminole County discovery transformed Greene’s apparent defeat into a 262-vote lead, a stunning turnaround for a Republican who has spent decades defying the political odds.

Greene was first elected to the House in 1982 as a Democrat and switched to the GOP after the 2010 election.

He’s since found a way to keep winning in a district that has grown increasingly Democratic. He is now the only Republican in the General Assembly who represents a majority-Black district.