A closely watched congressional race remains unresolved after voters declined to hand any candidate an outright victory, setting up another election to determine who will serve the final months of a late lawmaker’s term.
The outcome keeps attention focused on Georgia for several more weeks as Democrats prepare for another intra-party contest in a district they have dominated for years.
Marcye Scott and Everton Blair advanced Tuesday to an Aug. 25 runoff in the special election to fill the remainder of the late Rep. David Scott’s congressional term after neither candidate received the majority needed to win outright.
According to the Associated Press, Scott received approximately 47.5% of the vote while Blair earned about 36.1% with most of the ballots counted.
Republican Caesar Gonzales finished a distant third with roughly 8.5% of the vote.
Georgia law requires a candidate to receive more than 50% of the vote to win a special election outright.
Because no candidate reached that threshold, the top two finishers will meet in a runoff next month.
The winner will serve only the remainder of David Scott’s current term following his death in April at the age of 80.
The special election is separate from the race that will determine who represents Georgia’s 13th Congressional District for the next full two-year term beginning in January.
Voters already selected nominees for that race during the regularly scheduled primary in May.
Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark won that primary with about 56% of the vote and will face Republican Jonathan Chavez in the Nov. 3 general election.
Blair also competed in the May Democratic primary for the full term but finished third with approximately 12% of the vote.
Tuesday’s special election featured all candidates on a single ballot regardless of party affiliation.
Originally, six candidates sought the seat.
However, Democrat Tony Brown was disqualified after the qualifying fee he submitted was returned because of insufficient funds, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
State officials said any votes cast for Brown would not be counted.
The remaining candidates included Scott, Blair, Gonzales, attorney Carlos Moore and Republican Fayth Park.
Scott entered the race shortly after her father’s funeral in May.
She has campaigned on completing the work her father began, particularly projects involving pending federal funding requests for communities throughout the district.
“Right after my dad passed, a lot of the City Council or the commissioners and chair people, they wanted to know what was going to happen with these projects,” Scott told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“And that’s really why I’m running: to complete that.”
Blair previously served on the Gwinnett County Board of Education after first being elected in 2018.
He later became chairman of the school board and has emphasized his background in education throughout the campaign.
According to his campaign, Blair earned a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics, a master’s degree from Stanford University and a doctorate in education leadership from Harvard University.
Although the winner will serve only the remainder of David Scott’s term, the special election will temporarily reduce one of the vacancies in the House of Representatives.
Once the winner is sworn into office, Democrats will gain one additional seat while Republicans will continue holding a narrow House majority.
Georgia’s 13th Congressional District includes all of Rockdale County along with portions of Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry and Newton counties.
The district has consistently favored Democratic candidates in recent elections.
David Scott won reelection there in 2024 with approximately 72% of the vote.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris also carried the district in the 2024 presidential election with roughly 71% of the vote compared with about 28% for President Donald Trump, Fox News reported.
The Aug. 25 runoff will now determine who completes David Scott’s final months in Congress before voters return to the polls again in November to choose who will represent the district for the full congressional term beginning in January.