Former Gwinnett County School Board Chairman Everton Blair Jr. won the special election to fill the late Rep. David Scott’s (D-GA) open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Blair defeated Scott’s daughter, Democratic candidate Marcye Scott, in the Georgia runoff by an 8-point margin and 1,448 votes. The two Democrats had made it to the special election runoff after each advancing from the July 28 special election, with a combined near 84% of the votes, as the Republican candidates failed to hit double digits.
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The Democratic former board chairman will fill Georgia’s 13th District’s vacant seat in the lower chamber for the remainder of the session until voters choose the district’s next regularly elected representative in the November midterm election.
Blair ran a campaign in which he pledged not to take money from corporate PACs and put forward a “Black Economic Agenda” he said was “directly focused on improving outcomes for Black Georgians in economic opportunity, affordable housing, education, health care, and wealth creation.” Over half of the residents in the Peach State’s 13th Congressional District, which is located outside of Atlanta, are black. Blair emphasized his support for Medicare for All, paid family leave, and raising taxes on billionaires and corporations.
Marcye Scott, on the other hand, highlighted her campaign priorities of improving road, neighborhood, and park infrastructure, supporting local law enforcement, expanding public transportation access, and investing in senior and veteran residents.
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David Scott died during his 13th term in the lower chamber in April. The Democratic primary for the regular November election occurred on May 19, with state Rep. Jasmine Clarke securing the Democratic nomination. Blair came in third place in that May primary, securing 11.6% of the vote.
Clarke will take on Air Force veteran Jonathan Chavez in the November general election. Rep. David Scott defeated Chavez in the 2024 general election by a 43.6-point margin in his last race for the “solid Democratic” seat.
