Georgia Democrats have a chance to flip two more state legislature seats today: State Senate District 17 and State House District 111. Both districts are located in Henry County, a fast-growing suburb located about 30 minutes outside of Atlanta. Of the two districts, the state house district will be easier to flip as Clinton won it 50-47 (one of 13 districts Clinton won represented by a Republican) and the previous representative, Brian Strickland (R), won by a slim 52-48 in 2016 and his largest margin of victory was a meager 53-47 in 2014. State Senate District 17 is a steeper climb as Trump won the district 57-41 and the Republican won 59-40 in 2016.
Special elections were called after the state senator, Rick Jeffares (R) resigned to run for governor and Mr. Strickland followed by resigning to run for Mr. Jeffares’ seat.
Four Candidates are running for District 111: El-Mahdi Holly (D), Tarji Leonard Dunn (D), Geoffrey Cauble (R), and Larry Morey (R).
In State Senate District 17, one Democrat and three Republicans are running: Phyllis Hatcher (D), Brian Strickland (R), Ed Toney (R), and Nelva Lee (R).
With four candidates running in each district, it’s unlikely a single candidate will obtain a majority of the vote, meaning a run-off will more than likely be held on February 6th. In the state senate district, Ms. Hatcher is all but assured to make the run-off as she is the sole Democrat running.
I’m hoping Democrats have been working hard to flip the seats as I only first heard about the elections yesterday and I live in Atlanta!!!