Georgia will send at least four new people to the U.S. House after the election, and The Associated Press had declared a winner in all but one of the open races as of press time.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath also won a closely watched rematch against Republican Karen Handel, holding onto her seat in the 6th Congressional District.
Marjorie Taylor Greene will represent northwest Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, succeeding retired U.S. Rep. Tom Graves. In the 9th Congressional District, a seat that became open after U.S. Rep. Doug Collins decided to run for the Senate, Republican Andrew Clyde beat Democrat Devin Pandy.
And in the 5th District, Nikema Williams will succeed her mentor and civil rights icon John Lewis, who died in July.
Incumbent Congressmen Sanford Bishop, Jody Hice, Drew Ferguson, Hank Johnson, Austin Scott, David Scott, Rick Allen, Barry Loudermilk and Buddy Carter also won reelection.
Several counties in metro Atlanta were slow to post results Tuesday night, one of the most-watched congressional races in Georgia has not yet been called. In the 7th District, Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux and Republican Rich McCormick were neck-and-neck with counting still underway.
Lewis’ death, Collins' Senate run and retirements by Graves and U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall created the four open seats in Georgia.
Greene was essentially unopposed after Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal disqualified himself and moved out of state in September. The congresswoman-elect, who in the past has spread discredited QAnon conspiracy theories and has made racist and xenophobic statements in videos posted on social media, focused on drawing support from conservatives who wanted to elect someone who will defend President Donald Trump vigorously.
“BIG WIN TONIGHT!” she wrote on Twitter. “THANK YOU to the people of NW Georgia for choosing me to fight for them in Washington, DC!”
Williams won the 5th Congressional District seat over Republican Angela Stanton-King. The party selected her to replace Lewis on the ballot for the Atlanta-based seat, and she was always favored to win in this heavily Democratic district.
“I know that going to Congress I have really big shoes that I’m going in to succeed,” Williams said after her race was called early Wednesday morning. "But, I am trying to chart my own path when I go to Congress and fulfill the legacy that John Lewis left for us.”
The 7th District was the fourth and final open congressional race in Georgia. Bourdeaux came close to unseating Woodall in 2018, and he declined a rematch this year.
A college professor and former budget chief for the state Senate, she benefits from high name recognition and changing demographics in a diverse district. Most election prognosticators predicted she would defeat McCormick, an emergency room physician and veteran. However, Republicans banked on the Morehouse School of Medicine graduate keeping the seat in GOP hands.
Bourdeaux held her cards close to her chest as polls closed Tuesday. She stopped short of making predictions, but said her district will be key in pushing Georgia from red to blue.
“We are on the brink of putting Georgia over the line,” she said at a press conference outside her Suwanee campaign office.
The 7th District spans most of Gwinnett County and part of southern Forsyth County. Both the district and Gwinnett passed their 2016 turnout totals with absentee and early voting alone, and few long lines or major polling place issues were reported Tuesday.
“Even if we have a relatively light turnout today, we could easily pass 70%,” she said.
With so many absentee ballots in the mix — more than 115,000 in Gwinnett — Bourdeaux wouldn’t say whether she expected to learn her fate on election night.
“We in Georgia are used to waiting,” she said. “We know how to be patient.”
Like in the 7th, McBath’s 6th Congressional District includes parts of suburban Atlanta that are increasingly supporting Democratic candidates. McBath was considered the front-runner in the race for weeks, but Republicans had hoped enough die-hard conservatives who support Trump would turn out and boost the chances of down-ballot candidates like Handel.
All of Georgia’s 14 U.S. House seats were contested this year. But each of the 10 incumbents won reelection.
Amanda Coyne contributed to this article.
District 1
Buddy Carter, Republican, incumbent WINNER
Joyce Marie Griggs, Democrat
District 2
Sanford Bishop, Democrat, incumbent WINNER
Don Cole, Republican
District 3
Val Almonord, Democrat
Drew Ferguson, Republican, incumbent WINNER
District 4
Johsie Cruz Ezammudeen, Republican
Hank Johnson, Democrat, incumbent WINNER
District 5
Angela Stanton-King, Republican
Nikema Williams, Democrat WINNER
District 6
Karen Handel, Republican
Lucy McBath, Democrat, incumbent WINNER
District 7
Carolyn Bourdeaux, Democrat WINNER
Rich McCormick, Republican
District 8
Lindsay Holliday, Democrat
Austin Scott, Republican, incumbent WINNER
District 9
Andrew Clyde, Republican WINNER
Devin Pandy, Democrat
District 10
Jody Hice, Republican, incumbent WINNER
Tabitha Johnson-Green, Democrat
District 11
Dana Barrett, Democrat
Barry Loudermilk, Republican, incumbent WINNER
District 12
Rick Allen, Republican, incumbent WINNER
Liz Johnson, Democrat
District 13
Becky Hites, Republican
David Scott, Democrat, incumbent WINNER
District 14
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican WINNER
Kevin Van Ausdal, Democrat
*This article was updated after additional winners were declared.
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