2018 Georgia Secretary of State election

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2018 Georgia Secretary of State election

← 2014 November 6, 2018 (general)
December 4, 2018 (runoff)
2022 →
Turnout61.44% Increase First round 22.98% Decrease Runoff
  Brad Raffensperger.jpg John Barrow Official Headshot.jpg
Nominee Brad Raffensperger John Barrow
Party Republican Democratic
First round 1,906,588
49.1%
1,890,310
48.7%
Runoff 764,855
51.9%
709,049
48.1%

Georgia Secretary of State Election Results by County, 2018.svg
Runoff county results
Raffensperger:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      90-100%
Barrow:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

Secretary of State before election

Brian Kemp
Republican

Elected Secretary of State

Brad Raffensperger
Republican

The 2018 Georgia Secretary of State election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Secretary of State of Georgia, the 2018 gubernatorial election, as well as elections for the United States Senate and elections for the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Republican Incumbent Secretary of State Brian Kemp chose not to run for re-election in order to run for governor.[1] Since no candidate received the requisite 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates, Democrat John Barrow and Republican Brad Raffensperger proceeded to a runoff on December 4, 2018.[2] At 22.98%, the runoff had the lowest voter turnout of any Georgia statewide election since the senate runoff of 1992.

In the runoff election, Raffensperger flipped Warren County, a reliably Democratic county which has not voted Republican on a presidential level since 1972. Georgia has been a Republican triplex since 2011, meaning that its governor, attorney general, and secretary of state have all been members of the same party. The state maintained that status following this election; Republicans also won the gubernatorial and attorney general elections. This was the first general runoff election in Georgia's history for a statewide constitutional executive office.

Republican primary[]

Candidates[]

Declared[]

  • David Belle Isle, Mayor of Alpharetta[3]
  • Buzz Brockway, state representative[4]
  • Joshua McKoon, state senator[5]
  • Brad Raffensperger, state representative[6]

Declined[]

  • John Albers, state senator[4]
  • Steve Gooch, state senator[4]
  • Liz Hausmann, Fulton County Commissioner[7]
  • Brian Kemp, incumbent secretary of state of Georgia (running for governor)[1]
  • Michael Williams, State Senator (running for governor)[8][9]

Endorsements[]

David Belle Isle
  • Tommy Allegood, Acworth Mayor
  • Boyd Austin, Dallas Mayor
  • Peter Banks, Barnesville Mayor
  • Billy Copeland, McDonough Mayor
  • Danny Dunagan Gainesville Mayor
  • Jamie Doss, Rome Mayor
  • Ken Gowen, Tunnel Hill Mayor
  • Alan Hallman, Hapeville Mayor
  • John Harley, Centerville Mayor
  • Donnie Henriques, Woodstock Mayor
  • Gene Hobgood, Canton Mayor
  • Bucky Johnson, Norcross Mayor
  • Joe Lockwood, Milton Mayor
  • Jack Longino, College Park Mayor
  • Steve Miller, Holly Springs Mayor
  • Dennis Mock, Dalton Mayor
  • Robert Price, Locust Grove Mayor
  • Tom Reed, Chattahoochee Hills Mayor
  • Rick Roberts, Ball Ground Mayor
  • Jim Sill, Mountain Park Mayor
  • Julie Smith, Tifton Mayor
  • Gary Thrower, Milledgeville Mayor
  • Vince Williams, Union City Mayor

[10]

Buzz Brockway
State Representatives
  • Michael Caldwell, state representative[11]

Results[]

Republican primary results[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Brad Raffensperger 185,386 34.96%
Republican David Belle Isle 151,328 28.54%
Republican Joshua McKoon 112,113 21.14%
Republican Buzz Brockway 81,492 15.37%
Total votes 530,319 100.00%

Runoff[]

Candidates[]

  • David Belle Isle, Mayor of Alpharetta
  • Brad Raffensperger, state representative

Polling[]

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
David
Belle Isle
Brad
Raffensperger
Undecided
Rosetta Stone June 7, 2018 400 ± 4.9% 24% 42% 34%

Results[]

Republican primary runoff results[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Brad Raffensperger 331,127 61.74%
Republican David Belle Isle 205,223 38.26%
Total votes 536,350 100.00%

Democratic primary[]

Candidates[]

Declared[]

  • John Barrow, former U.S. Representative[14]
  • Dee Dawkins-Haigler, former State Representative and candidate for the State Senate in 2016[7]
  • RJ Hadley, former Rockdale County Tax Commissioner and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010[3]

Declined[]

  • Teresa Tomlinson, Mayor of Columbus[15][16]
  • David Worley, Georgia State Elections Board member, former Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia and nominee for GA-06 in 1990[4][7]

Results[]

Democratic primary results[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John Barrow 264,864 51.48%
Democratic Dee Dawkins-Haigler 151,963 29.54%
Democratic RJ Hadley 97,682 18.99%
Total votes 514,509 100.00%

Libertarian primary[]

J. Smythe DuVal ran unopposed at a party convention and was nominated convention.

Candidates[]

  • J. Smythe DuVal, registered nurse and medical I.T. entrepreneur[18]

General election[]

Predictions[]

Source Ranking As of
Governing magazine[19] Lean R June 4, 2018

Polling[]

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Brad
Raffensperger (R)
John
Barrow (D)
Smythe
DuVal (L)
Undecided
20/20 Insights (D-Southern Majority) October 31 – November 2, 2018 614 ± 4.0% 42% 48% 3% 7%
Cygnal (R) October 27–30, 2018 467 ± 4.4% 47% 45% 6% 2%
University of Georgia September 30 – October 9, 2018 1,232 ± 2.8% 41% 37% 6% 15%
Public Policy Polling October 5–6, 2018 729 ± 3.0% 43% 41% 16%
Gravis Marketing July 27–29, 2018 650 ± 3.8% 41% 45% 15%

Results[]

General election results[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Brad Raffensperger 1,906,588 49.1%
Democratic John Barrow 1,890,310 48.7%
Libertarian Smythe DuVal 86,696 2.2%
Total votes 3,883,594 100.00%

Runoff[]

General election runoff results[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Brad Raffensperger 764,855 51.9%
Democratic John Barrow 709,049 48.1%
Total votes 1,473,904 100.00%
Republican hold

References[]

  1. ^ a b Bluestein, Greg (March 31, 2017). "Brian Kemp enters race for governor". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  2. ^ "11 Alive: Georgia's Secretary of State race will go to a runoff on Dec. 4". Archived from the original on 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  3. ^ a b Bluestein, Greg (April 24, 2017). "Alpharetta mayor announces candidacy for Georgia Secretary of State". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d Bluestein, Greg (March 13, 2017). "Buzz Brockway to seek Secretary of State gig in 2018". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on April 12, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  5. ^ Salzer, James (July 6, 2017). "Georgia's "religious liberty" senator joins Secretary of State race". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  6. ^ Hassinger, Mike (April 4, 2017). "New Entrant For Secretary Of State". GeorgiaPol.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Bluestein, Greg (March 29, 2017). "Vogtle fallout: Ending reactor project, loss of thousands of jobs on table". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  8. ^ Bluestein, Greg (July 5, 2016). "An early Donald Trump backer aims for higher office in Georgia". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  9. ^ Bluestein, Greg (June 2, 2017). "Pro-Trump loyalist Michael Williams enters governor race". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  10. ^ "Release: Belle Isle Campaign for Secretary of State Announces Endorsements From Across Georgia". davidbelleisle.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2018-05-20.
  11. ^ Michael Caldwell. "I could not be more excited to support @votehunterhill for Governor, @GeoffDuncanGA for Lt. Governor and @buzzbrockway for Secretary of State. Please consider these great, Conservative Georgians when you hit the ballot box today and Tuesday! #gapol #gahouse #gagop #gop". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-06-02. Retrieved 2018-05-20.
  12. ^ "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  13. ^ "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election Runoff". Georgia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  14. ^ Bluestein, Greg (September 25, 2017). "John Barrow aims for comeback with bid for Georgia secretary of state". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  15. ^ Williams, Chuck (April 12, 2017). "Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson weighs run for governor, secretary of state". Ledger-Enquirer. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  16. ^ Williams, Chuck (May 10, 2017). "Mayor Teresa Tomlinson makes decision on running for 2018 statewide office". Ledger-Enquirer. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  17. ^ "General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election". Georgia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  18. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2018-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ^ Jacobson, Louis (4 June 2018). "Secretary of State Races Are More Competitive and Important Than Ever". Governing. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  20. ^ "November 6, 2018 General Election". GA - Election Night Reporting. Georgia Secretary of State. November 10, 2018. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  21. ^ "December 4, 2018 General Election Runoff". GA - Election Night Reporting. Georgia Secretary of State. December 4, 2018. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2018.

External links[]

Official campaign websites
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