Everton Blair won the runoff election in Georgia’s 13th District on Tuesday, defeating Marcye Scott 53% to 47% with 84% of the expected vote tallied. The result sends the former Gwinnett County School Board Chairman to Washington to serve the remainder of David Scott’s term.
Blair’s runoff win came after he trailed Marcye Scott in the first round of voting last month, 46% to 38%. He advanced to the runoff with her from a crowded all-party special primary election in July, after no candidate received a majority of the vote.
Marcye Scott in the runoff
NBC News projected that Blair defeated Marcye Scott, who is David Scott’s daughter. After the runoff result, she said she would “ensure the work already underway” continues. The race now fills the seat left open after David Scott died on April 22 at age 80, after serving for more than two decades in Congress.
Blair’s path to the seat also runs through the regularly scheduled primary, where he lost to State Rep. Jasmine Clark. Clark won that contest and is the heavy favorite to win the November election in the district.
Georgia’s 13th District and November
The special election and the regularly scheduled primary were separate contests for the same seat. Blair’s runoff win decides who serves the district for the remainder of David Scott’s term, while the November election will determine the longer-term holder of the seat. Jasmine Clark’s primary win means Blair’s stay in Washington is likely to be brief.
The result also fits a wider pattern in recent special elections: Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva won a special election for the seat held by her father, Raul Grijalva, and Aisha Wahab won a special election last week to replace Eric Swalwell in California. Once Blair and Aisha Wahab are sworn in, Republicans’ House majority will stand at 218-214, with one independent and two vacancies.
Blair’s runoff reversal
Blair’s runoff comeback mattered because the first round showed a different order. He moved from second place in last month’s vote to a 53% to 47% lead in the runoff, even with only 84% of the expected vote counted at the time the result was reported. That shift is enough to settle the immediate vacancy, but it does not change the separate November race already won by Jasmine Clark.
