10320 Atlanta: Karen Handel, 6th congressional district candidate, hugs supporter Linda Schutter at the Georgia Republican Party Election Night Celebration in the Intercontinental Buckhead Atlanta hotel on Tuesday, Nov 3, 2020 in Atlanta. “Curtis Compton / [email protected]”
By Tamar Hallerman, Greg Bluestein and David Wickert
Sluggish vote counting in metro Atlanta creating headaches
10:18 a.m.
Absentee ballots leave Georgia election results up in the air
By Greg Bluestein
Why is Georgia still up in the air? According to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis, there are at least 236,000 absentee ballots that still haven’t been tallied.
Many of those ballots come from Democratic-leaning counties, including at least 63,000 in Fulton and another 46,000 in DeKalb. There are also 20,000 ballots outstanding in Republican-leaning Houston County.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger expects much of that total to be tallied later today. And Joe Biden would have to win about 72% of those ballots to overtake President Donald Trump, although that percentage drops if there are even more absentee ballots than projected are added to the total.
10:05 a.m.
Bourdeaux confident of 7th Congressional District victory
By Amanda Coyne
Carolyn Bourdeaux was much more certain about her election outcome Wednesday morning than she was in 2018.
In her first race, it took weeks of demanding more absentee ballots be counted before Bourdeaux, a Democrat, conceded a 433-vote defeat to incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall. This year, before all of Gwinnett’s votes were counted and before any media organization called the 7th Congressional District race, Bourdeaux believed the win over Republican candidate Rich McCormick was in her column.
“The 7th Congressional District is ready for change,” Bourdeaux said in a Wednesday morning Facebook Live address. “I am here to be an advocate on behalf of the people of this district.”
If she is officially the winner, Bourdeaux will be the first Democrat to represent the once solidly Republican district since U.S. Rep. Buddy Darden, who lost the seat in 1994. Before 2018, incumbent Woodall had won each election by 20 points or more. He announced he would not run for re-election in 2020 shortly after his narrow 2018 win. Bourdeaux would also be the first woman to represent the district.
As of 9 a.m., Bourdeaux had 51.15% of all votes counted, a lead of 8,305 votes. Forsyth County, the southern tip of which is in the 7th District, has fully reported its results. Gwinnett County, the bulk of which is contained in the 7th, has not. Gwinnett election officials paused their count shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday with 4,400 absentee ballots and 500 provisional ballots left to count. The county also has to recount four days worth of early voting ballots from one early voting precinct scanner that had a corrupt card, and adjudicate 3,200 batches of absentee ballots in which at least one is unreadable. That is likely between 80,000 and 160,000, according to the elections office.
Bourdeaux’s confidence comes in part to the heavy Democratic tilt in Gwinnett, where votes are still left to be counted. As of 9 a.m., Bourdeaux is ahead of McCormick by 13.06 percentage points – 35,934 votes – in Gwinnett, compared to a 2.3% lead over McCormick in the district overall.
Bourdeaux declared victory around 2 a.m. Wednesday. After the polls closed Tuesday evening, she wouldn’t say whether she expected to know her fate sooner rather than later.
“We in Georgia are used to waiting,” she said. “We know how to be patient.”
9:10 a.m.
New results show shrinking margins in key races
Fresh election results show key races continue to tighten in Georgia.
Results released by the Secretary of State’s Office shortly before 9 a.m. show President Donald Trump’s lead over Joe Biden has shrunk. So, too, has incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue’s lead over Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff.
Hundreds of thousands of ballots remain to be counted in key counties, including Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett.
8:55 a.m.
Raffensperger expects to finish Georgia vote count today
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger expects to wrap up Georgia vote counting today.
The secretary told Good Morning America this morning that despite some counting problems in Fulton County and elsewhere, Georgia had a successful election. He said voters can be confident “the count is secure.”
“We’re working hard on that,” Raffensperger said of the ongoing count. “By mid-day, we should be pretty much through it. Probably by the end of the day, we’ll definitely have it done.
“We had a very successful election,” he said. “Over 4.8 million Georgians voted, which is also a record for a presidential election.”
Raffensperger has scheduled an 11:30 a.m. press conference at the Georgia State Capitol.
7:10 a.m.
More results due from key metro Atlanta counties
Hundreds of thousands of votes remain to be counted. Key races with national implications are too close to call.
That’s the state of elections in Georgia this morning. You’ll find more details below. But in the hours ahead, watch for more election results from key metro Atlanta counties, including Fulton, Gwinnett and DeKalb.
There are at least 239,000 absentee ballots that have been returned to counties that haven’t yet been counted. We’ll post updated results here as we get them.
Also today: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will hold a press conference this morning to discuss voting problems and other issues.
3 a.m.
Key races up in the air
The race for president in Georgia tightened early Wednesday as metro Atlanta returns trickled in, though it could take days to get the full picture because of vote counting problems in Fulton and Gwinnett counties.
That didn’t stop President Donald Trump from declaring a “clear” victory in Georgia, despite the race being unsettled in many left-leaning areas.
Earlier in the evening, Georgia Republicans began to rally around U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler after she edged out Congressman Doug Collins for a spot in a Jan. 5 runoff against Democrat Raphael Warnock. Collins conceded the race and pledged full support to his once-bitter rival.
Georgia’s other marquee races also hung in the balance as dozens of Democratic-leaning precincts surrounding Atlanta had yet to report. That included U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s reelection battle against Democrat Jon Ossoff, as well as a U.S. House contest that was seen as bellwether for Vice President Joe Biden’s strength in the suburbs.
Early Wednesday, multiple news outlets declared U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, the winner of a rematch against former Congresswoman Karen Handel in the suburban 6th U.S. House District. And Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux declared victory in the neighboring 7th District, though no major news outlets had called the race.
Other developments:
- Former Vice President Joe Biden expressed pleasant surprise that Georgia was in play for his campaign, saying early Wednesday that “we’re still in the game in Georgia although that’s not one we expected”
- There was some confusion surrounding the 7th Congressional District race early Wednesday. The diverse suburban district, based in Gwinnett and Forsyth counties, was home to the tightest congressional race in the nation two years ago and too close to call all evening. But Bourdeaux declared victory over Republican Rich McCormick shortly after 2:30 a.m., though no news outlets had weighed in on the race. The McCormick camp said it will weigh its options until all ballots are counted.
- Republicans declared victory over their top statehouse target, House Minority Leader Bob Trammell, the last remaining rural white Democrat in the chamber
- Georgia is poised to send a record number of women to Congress
- Voters in Brunswick ousted Jackie Johnson, the district attorney who initially headed up the Ahmaud Arbery investigation
Track election returns here, and follow our live updates below:
2:45 a.m.
Bourdeaux declares victory in 7th District, despite no news orgs calling race
Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux said she won the 7th District congressional race, but major news outlets have yet to call the razor-thin Gwinnett and Forsyth contest.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to be your Congresswoman-elect, and I will carry your stories and experiences with me every day as we work together to build a brighter future for our children,” Bourdeaux said in an early Wednesday statement. Shortly after, House Democrats’ campaign committee fired off a press release congratulating the policy professor on her win.
The campaign of Republican Rich McCormick said it had “not received an unofficial total, let alone a certified vote total. We will continue to weigh our options until all ballots are counted.”
2:40 a.m.
More than 8,000 ballots outstanding in Gwinnett
By Arielle Kass
Gwinnett County spokesperson Joe Sorenson said no more vote counting will happen tonight, even though more than 8,000 ballots are outstanding.
Gwinnett still has to count 4,400 absentee-by-mail ballots that arrived Tuesday, along with about 500 provisional ballots. Additionally, poll workers on Wednesday must re-scan the advance-in-person ballots that were loaded on to a corrupt card. Sorenson said he didn’t know how many ballots that is, but the scanner, from Shorty Howell Park, had four days worth of ballots that were uploaded from the beginning of the early voting period.
The county must also adjudicate a number of absentee ballots that have issues. There are 3,200 batches of absentee ballots; each batch contains somewhere between 25 and 50 ballots. At least one ballot in each batch had votes that couldn’t be read. The county uploaded the batches with the knowledge that they’d have to go back through and find the ballots that didn’t scan to determine whether the votes could be read. That process will begin Wednesday.
2:30 a.m.
Trump declares victory in Georgia, but results far from settled
President Donald Trump declared victory in Georgia early Wednesday during a televised address in which he also vowed to fight at the Supreme Court.
Trump said it was “clear” he won Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, but the race is still far from settled here. The heavily Democratic Fulton County is still tabulating its results, as are precincts in Gwinnett and Cobb counties.
1:45 a.m.
News outlets call 6th District race for McBath
The Associated Press and The New York Times are projecting that Marietta Democrat Lucy McBath will return to Washington next year for a second term in the U.S. House.
McBath faced a rematch against former Congresswoman Karen Handel, whom she narrowly ousted in 2018. Unofficial returns suggest McBath was able to build on her support from the midterms.
Three years ago, the Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb-based 6th District was host to most expensive congressional race in the nation. That’s when Handel, Georgia’s former secretary of state, was able to best then-Democratic newcomer Jon Ossoff in a race that was seen as a proxy fight over President Donald Trump.
1:35 a.m.
GOP faithful rally around Trump at Buckhead watch party
The crowd cheered each time President Donald Trump carried a state, no matter how trivial. They booed when Joe Biden appeared to flip Arizona. And they left home empty-handed as the White House race remained up for grabs early Wednesday morning.
Hundreds of Republicans packed a ballroom at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead for the Georgia GOP event. The main attraction was supposed to be U.S. Sen. David Perdue but he never showed. Though he had an edge over Jon Ossoff, heavily-Democratic counties still hadn’t fully reported.
1:25 a.m.
Tens of thousands of votes yet to be counted in DeKalb
By Tyler Estep
Early Wednesday, DeKalb County posted results for about 164,000 advance votes. That brought the county’s total counted votes to just over 322,000, with tens of thousands of absentee by mail ballots yet to be counted. Officials said they would resume counting those ballots at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The latest DeKalb results were a boon to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who has taken more than 82% of the county’s votes thus far.
1:15 a.m.
DA who headed Ahmaud Arbery investigation ousted
Voters in Brunswick appeared to oust Jackie Johnson, the district attorney who initially headed up the Ahmaud Arbery investigation.
Unofficial returns early Wednesday showed Keith Higgins running ahead of Johnson by several thousand votes.
This spring, Johnson was accused of mishandling the case surrounding Arbery, a Black man who was shot to death in February while jogging by several white men. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to probe the actions of Johnson and another district attorney who for months didn’t make arrests in the case.
12:35 a.m.
Associated Press: Williams, Johnson heading to Congress
No surprise here, but the Associated Press is projecting that Democrat Nikema Williams won the 5th District congressional seat once held by the late John Lewis. The news outlet also confirmed that U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, will be returning to Congress for an eighth term.
The only U.S. House races we’re still waiting on are the suburban 6th and 7th districts.
12:25 a.m.
Metro Atlanta counties struggling to count absentee ballots
By Ben Brasch and Arielle Kass
The most populous counties in the state, on the biggest stage imaginable, are having trouble counting their absentee ballots.
As of press time, neither Fulton nor Gwinnett counties had finished tallying their early and Election Day results.
The counties, home to nearly one out of every five Georgians, had separate issues with their mail-in voting systems.
Tuesday’s tallying issues meant there was no clear call in the state for the presidential contest and for key congressional races with consequences that could ripple across the nation.
12:05 a.m.
Republicans declare victory over state House minority leader
GOP groups declared victory early Wednesday over House Minority Leader Bob Trammell. The Luthersville Democrat was on the receiving end of more than $1 million worth of Republican attacks this cycle, a once unheard of sum for a statehouse race.
“We couldn’t be more excited to send Bob Trammell packin’ and replace him with an upgrade,” said Austin Chambers, president of the Washington-based Republican State Leadership Committee, which spent heavily in the race. “Republican David Jenkins will serve his district with the utmost integrity and attention to the needs of his community.”
Trammell’s defeat is big symbolic one for the GOP. Not only is he the leader of the House Democratic caucus, but the last remaining rural white Democrat in the chamber.
Earlier Tuesday, Trammell was feeling bullish, sending Chambers a case of Budweiser signed by “Golden Boy Bob Trammell.”
“Election night can be long,” Trammell wrote in an accompanying note. “Don’t want you to be caught too empty handed.”
So it must have stung when Chambers tweeted this reply, with election returns in the background, late Tuesday: “This bud is for you, Golden Boy.”
11:55 p.m.
Lieberman concedes Senate race, endorses Warnock
By Patricia Murphy
Democrat Matt Lieberman conceded in Georgia’s U.S. Senate special election and offered his endorsement to Rev. Raphael Warnock late Tuesday, the AJC has learned.
Lieberman, the son of former vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, had been under intense pressure to drop out of the race from Democratic leaders, who worried he would siphon support from Warnock. He stayed in the contest but won only marginal support. In fact, former Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson, who cruised under the radar for much of the race, was polling higher than Lieberman in unofficial returns.
11:45 p.m.
Loeffler calls for unity, thanks Collins for service
By Patricia Murphy
U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler thanked her supporters late Tuesday and called for Republican unity after early election results showed her advancing to a Jan. 5 runoff against Democrat Raphael Warnock.
“I am so humbled. I am blown away to be honest,” Loeffler told supporters at her election night watch party in Buckhead.
Loeffler, who was appointed to the Senate seat by Gov. Brian Kemp late last year, also thanked her archrival, Republican Congressman Doug Collins, who called her earlier this evening to offer his support. The two fought bitterly for conservative support for much of the year, dividing the state’s GOP leaders in the process.
“He’s a strong conservative, he supports our president, he supported our country, loves his family,” she said of Collins. “He’s a man of faith, and I am honored to have him on our team.”
11:30 p.m.
White House, Perdue-Ossoff races too close to call
By Greg Bluestein
The race for president and other top contests in Georgia are still too close to call after a record number of voters surged to the polls to render a verdict on President Donald Trump’s four years in the White House and decide a U.S. Senate race that could determine control of the chamber.
Joe Biden’s late push to win Georgia for Democrats for the first time since 1992 hung in the balance as voters weighed a race for president doubling as a referendum on Trump’s handling of a coronavirus pandemic that’s upended every facet of American life.
U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler edged fellow Republican Rep. Doug Collins to score a spot in a Jan. 5 runoff against Democrat Raphael Warnock. But Georgia’s other statewide race, between U.S. Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff, was still unsettled.
11:20 p.m.
Ballot counting issue in Gwinnett likely to slow results
Our colleague Arielle Kass is reporting that Gwinnett is experiencing a tallying issue that’s affecting at least 80,000 absentee-by-mail ballots, which will likely delay the reporting of election returns in the majority-minority county.
Gwinnett is home to the 7th Congressional District, one of the most competitive U.S. House races in the country, and Democrats Joe Biden and Jon Ossoff are also banking on strong showings there.
11:05 p.m.
Warnock: ‘Something special and transformational is happening’
By Tia Mitchell
Rev. Raphael Warnock gave what amounted to a victory speech late Tuesday as early returns showed him leading the field in the crowded contest to fill the remainder of Johnny Isakson’s U.S. Senate term.
Flanked by members of his family who held signs that said “Thank you, Georgia” and “See you on 1/5/21, the Democrat declared “something special and transformational is happening right here in Georgia.”
“The people – everyday people, ordinary people – are rising up, and they are demanding change,” said the first-time candidate and pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Warnock then spoke about his policy platform and growing up in a Savannah housing project with working-class parents and 11 siblings. He vowed to stay “busy trying to lift the families of Georgia up” even his expected opponent in the Jan. 5 runoff, Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, will “try to tear me down” over the next nine weeks.
11/03/2020 — Atlanta, Georgia — Raphael Warnock, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, makes remarks at his headquarters on Election Day in Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn District, Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Warnock is expected to advance to a run-off election in January against a Republican opponent. (Alyssa Pointer / [email protected])
11:00 p.m.
Nikema Williams: ‘I feel confident in the work that I have done’
By Ernie Suggs
It wasn’t exactly a surprise, but state Sen. Nikema Williams easily dispatched Republican Angela Stanton King in the race for the 5th Congressional District seat once held by the late civil rights legend John Lewis.
Although the win in the heavily Democratic district has been a forgone conclusion for months and even after several media outlets declared her the winner, Williams was still reluctant to declare victory until all of the votes had been counted.
She said she has a firm rule to wait “until the race is officially called.”
So instead Williams gave what was close to a victory speech to a small group of family and supporters at a downtown office complex.
“Even though we don’t have results yet, I feel confident in the work that I have done in the community, the people that I represented here, the work that you have all done to make sure that our voices were heard in the ballot box, that whenever every vote is finally counted in the 5th congressional district, I will be your congresswoman-elect,” Williams said. “I am so proud to be able to stand here and live up to the legacy of John Lewis. Picking up the torch and moving forward with the work that I know he left us to do.”
READ THE REMAINING UPDATES and the original post on AJC.com.
