Georgia’s Democratic Senate Race Could Be Headed For A Runoff

Updated at 2:33 p.m. Wednesday

While Georgia votes continue to be counted in the Democratic primary race for Georgia’s Senate seat currently held by David Perdue, it appeared to be headed into a runoff between Teresa Tomlinson and Jon Ossoff on August 11.

In Georgia, candidates are required to win 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.

With more than three-quarters of the expected vote counted Wednesday afternoon, Ossoff had more than 48% of the counted vote, with Tomlinson at more than 14%, and Sarah Riggs Amico just behind her at more than 13%.

Neither the Secretary of State’s Office nor the Associated Press had called the race as of Wednesday afternoon.

Tomlinson released a statement about the results earlier Wednesday.

“We are so grateful to all of the Georgia voters who heroically persevered to cast their votes. Now that most have been counted, it appears that for the third time in his political career, Jon Ossoff has failed to break the 50% needed to avoid a runoff,” Tomlinson said in the statement.

“Now that it is a two-person race, we are looking forward to voters learning more about my record as a successful two-term Mayor and Public Safety Director who has won elections and governed and governed well. I am confident voters will conclude that I am the candidate who can beat David Perdue in November.”

Ossoff declined to discuss the possibility of a runoff in August until all votes are counted.

“Our assessment is that there are near or possibly in excess of a quarter of a million votes that have not yet been counted. Many of those are absentee, mail-in ballots,” Ossoff said, not ruling out the possibility of litigation as those votes come in.

“It’s far too early to talk about outcomes,”‘ Ossoff said about a runoff possibility. “We don’t know what the outcome is, because there are hundreds of thousands of votes that remain uncounted. And the point today, and the only point, is that my campaign team and I are going to fight to ensure that every single vote is counted.”

Amico echoed that sentiment.

“Dismissing or ignoring valid ballots from these voters is an audacious affront to the entire voting rights movement and takes a page straight from the voter suppression playbook championed by Republicans like Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger,” she said in an emailed statement.

The race, which saw some voters waiting hours to cast their ballots Tuesday, has so far proven to be anything but predictable. Technical glitches, a lack of poll workers and high turnout contributed to long lines, prompting judges in numerous counties, including Atlanta’s Fulton County, to extend voting hours. Election Day had been previously postponed and campaigns were forced almost entirely online because of the coronavirus. The final days also saw widespread protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Criticism of President Donald Trump’s response on both fronts has added fuel to Democrats’ ambitions of winning in Georgia, where Republicans still dominate in statewide elections but Democrats are increasingly making gains.

Perdue, a close Trump ally seeking a second term in November as Republicans look to hold the White House and Senate majority, drew no GOP primary opposition. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia is also defending the seat she was recently appointed to in a separate race that won’t be filtered by primaries.

Ossoff entered the Senate race in September with the endorsement of civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, as well as some built-in name recognition from his highly publicized 2017 special election loss to Republican Karen Handel for an Atlanta-area U.S. House seat. The young media executive has led in fundraising and has made fighting inequality and corruption a core part of his message.

Tomlinson, who was the first woman elected mayor of Columbus in 2010, has racked up a slate of endorsements of her own, including civil rights leader and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young. She touts her experience in office, saying she’s “the only one in this race who has ever won an election and governed,” and says that experience can help her cut through dysfunction in Washington.

Georgia postponed primary elections twice because of the pandemic. The state’s March 24 presidential primaries were first moved to May 19, when voters were set to choose party nominees for other 2020 races including the Senate contest. As infections and deaths mounted, Election Day was bumped back again to Tuesday.