Gov. Brian Kemp Wins Re-election in Georgia, Topping Stacey Abrams and Scott Dawson in Same District, As Voter Turnout Surges
By Tom Fitton
The Washington Free Beacon, 1-12-19
With a double-digit lead in the Georgia governor race, Democrat Brian Kemp has been declared the winner of a special election for Georgia’s sixth congressional district on November 6.
Republican State Sen. Josh McKoon had been the favorite to win the special election to replace conservative Republican Tom Price who resigned from office in the wake of allegations of corruption.
Ahead of that special election, state Republicans began planning a coordinated effort to recruit moderate candidates to run in the six-way special election for Georgia’s sixth congressional district. Democrats believed that conservative Republicans would do best in such a heavily conservative district and that a moderate Republican could beat out their preferred Democrat.
McKoon had been a state senator since 1993, and had been endorsed by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal.
However, he was forced to step down from his position as state senator, which he had held for 14 years, after failing to resign from office. He had been under investigation for corruption.
In the district, Kemp campaigned as a moderate and was endorsed by the State Republican Party, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Atlanta Constitution.
The election is a rematch of the 2014 special election to fill Price’s seat. As the district was redrawn before the 2017 elections, one Democrat, Stacey Abrams, won the seat.
Kemp was endorsed by the State Club of Georgia, which was formed by Republicans to bolster their effort to hold onto their majority in the Georgia House of Representatives, and by the conservative Georgia Coalition for Advanced Leadership Education. Kemp also was endorsed by the State Republican Party.
Georgia Democratic Party Chairman Jon Ossoff and several other Georgia Democrats began circulating a petition earlier this year calling on Kemp to resign from his position as state senator.
Ossoff told the Washington Free Beacon before the 2018 election that Kemp’s campaign had been a “full-time effort” and called for a special election to replace Kemp. He
