2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election

A special election filled the remainder of the term in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district in the 116th United States Congress. Incumbent Representative John Lewis, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2019, died on July 17, 2020 during his 17th term.[1][2][3]

2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election
September 29, 2020
December 1, 2020 (runoff)
Georgia's 5th congressional district
 
Candidate Kwanza Hall Robert Michael Franklin Jr.
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 13,450 11,332
Percentage 54.27% 45.73%
U.S. Representative before election

Vacant

 Elected U.S. Representative

Kwanza Hall
Democratic

Elections in Georgia
Federal government
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2008
2016
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Republican
2008
2016
U.S. Senate elections
U.S. House elections
State government
Gubernatorial elections
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Ballot measures
2004
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Background

As established by the Constitution of Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp ordered a special election to fill out the remainder of Lewis's term for September 29, 2020.[4] Since no candidate reached 50% on September 29, there was a special runoff election on December 1.[5] This meant that the runoff election took place four weeks after the regular election for a full two-year term. The runoff winner would thus serve for just one month covering the holiday season.

On July 20, 2020, the state Democratic Party announced that State Senator Nikema Williams would replace Lewis on the November ballot,[6] which she won with over 300,000 votes (85%). Williams did not run in the special election to serve the remainder of Lewis's term.[7]

Candidates

Advanced to runoff

Eliminated in blanket primary

Declined

Eliminated in blanket primary
  • Chase Oliver, customer service specialist[8]

Eliminated in blanket primary
  • Steven Muhammad, Community Organizer[8]

General election

Predictions
Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[9] Safe D August 21, 2020
Inside Elections[10] Safe D August 21, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[11] Safe D July 23, 2020
Politico[12] Safe D July 6, 2020
Daily Kos[13] Safe D August 17, 2020
RCP[14] Safe D June 9, 2020
Niskanen[15] Safe D July 26, 2020

Results
Georgia's 5th congressional district special election, September 29, 2020[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kwanza Hall 11,104 31.75%
Democratic Robert Michael Franklin Jr. 9,987 28.55%
Democratic Mable Thomas 6,692 19.13%
Democratic Keisha Waites 4,255 12.17%
Democratic Barrington Martin II 1,944 5.56%
Libertarian Chase Oliver 712 2.04%
Independent Steven Muhammad 282 0.8%
Total votes 34,967 100.00%

Runoff
2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election runoff, December 1, 2020[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kwanza Hall 13,450 54.27%
Democratic Robert Michael Franklin Jr. 11,332 45.73%
Total votes 24,782 100.00%
Democratic hold

See also
  • 2020 Georgia (U.S. state) elections

References
  1. Veronica Stracqualursi. "What happens to John Lewis' vacant US House seat in Georgia". CNN. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  2. Perrett, Connor. "How Democrats plan to find a replacement for John Lewis on November's ballot by Monday". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  3. "The process of replacing Rep. John Lewis in the US House". 11Alive.com. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  4. "Atlanta lowering flags indefinitely to honor Rep. John Lewis". KSTP. 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  5. Raymond, Jonathan (July 31, 2020). "Here's who qualified to run in the special election to fill John Lewis' seat". WXIA-TV – "11 Alive". Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  6. Alex Rogers. "Georgia state Sen. Nikema Williams picked to replace Lewis on November ballot". CNN. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  7. Panetta, Grace. "Nikema Williams is selected as the Democratic nominee to replace Rep. John Lewis on the ballot for November". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  8. Raffensperger, Brad (August 13, 2020). "United States Representative District 5 Qualifying Candidate Information". Elections Secretary of State Georgia Government.
  9. "2020 Senate Race Ratings for April 19, 2019". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  10. "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  11. "2020 Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  12. "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
  13. "Daily Kos Elections releases initial Senate race ratings for 2020". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  14. "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.
  15. "2020 Negative Partisanship and the 2020 Congressional Elections". Niskanen Center. April 28, 2020.
  16. "Results Summary". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  17. "Results Summary". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
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