This Republican district located in northeast Georgia is now facing its second do-over election due to a series of voting issues . Most recently, it became vacant after state Rep. Chris Erwin was removed from office in February due to these ongoing problems.
Last May, Erwin challenged incumbent state Rep. Dan Gasaway in the Republican primary. This is a blood red district that voted for Donald Trump 82-15, and, not too surprisingly, no Democrats ran here. Therefore, under state law, the GOP primary acted as the de facto general election.
In that election, Erwin narrowly beat Gasaway 50.5-49.5, a margin of just 67 votes. However, Gasaway filed a suit in June that alleged some voters from the neighboring 10th State House District were erroneously given ballots for the 28th. A judge ruled in his favor and called a redo of the election for Dec. 4.
The plot thickened further in the do-over election. This time around, Erwin edged Gasaway by just two votes. A recount confirmed the results and Erwin took office. However, shortly thereafter, the same judge who voided the results of the first election threw out the re-do after it came to light that three voters from outside the district had voted in the election and another person had cast two ballots. In an election this razor-close, these irregularities were more than enough to possibly swing the race.
According to state law, when a new election is ordered, the seat in question becomes vacant. As a result, the last two holders of this seat will faceoff in a rubber match to (hopefully) decide this year-long election saga once and for all.
Regardless of the winner, this will be a Republican hold and return the makeup of the state House to 105-75 in favor of the GOP.