Georgia State Senate elections, 2016
| 2016 Georgia Senate Elections | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Primary | May 24, 2016 |
| General | November 8, 2016 |
| 2016 Election Results | |
| 2014・2012・2010・2008 2006・2004・2002・2000 | |
| 2016 Elections | |
|---|---|
| Choose a chamber below: | |
All 56 seats in the Georgia State Senate were up for election in 2016. Democrats gained one seat after the November 2016 election.
Introduction
Elections for the Georgia State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 24, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 11, 2016.
Majority control
- See also: Partisan composition of state senates
Heading into the election, the Republican Party held the majority in the Georgia State Senate:
| Georgia State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 7, 2016 | After November 8, 2016 | |
| Democratic Party | 17 | 18 | |
| Republican Party | 39 | 38 | |
| Total | 56 | 56 | |
Incumbents retiring
Three incumbents did not run for re-election in 2016. Those incumbents were:
| Name | Party | Current Office |
|---|---|---|
| Tommie Williams | Senate District 19 | |
| William Jackson | Senate District 24 | |
| Mike Crane | Senate District 28 |
2016 election competitiveness
Very few general election competitions in Georgia.
Ballotpedia conducts a yearly study of electoral competitiveness in state legislative elections. Details on how well Georgia performed in the study are provided in the image below. Click here for the full 2016 Competitiveness Analysis »
- In the Georgia State Senate, there were 17 Democratic incumbents and 39 Republican incumbents. Three incumbents faced primary challengers in the Democratic Party. There were nine primary challenges in the Republican primary.
- In the House, there were 61 Democratic incumbents, 118 Republican incumbents, and one independent incumbent. Fifteen state representatives faced primary opposition in the Democratic Party. There were 22 primary challenges in the Republican primary.
- Georgia's elections featured one of the lowest rates of general election competition in the nation with 80.5 percent of seats having only one major party candidate. Going back to 2010, the national average stands at 38.0 percent.
- Overall, 18.6 percent of Democratic incumbents and 21.4 percent of GOP incumbents faced primary opposition in all of the state legislatures with elections in 2016.
- The cumulative figure for how many state legislative candidates faced no major party opposition in November in these states was 41.8 percent. This compares to 32.7 percent in 2010, 38.3 percent in 2012, and 43.0 percent in 2014.
- More details on electoral competitiveness in Georgia can be found below.
Races we watched
Ballotpedia identified 14 notable Georgia state primary races in 2016, two of which were state Senate contests.
Click here to read more about Ballotpedia's coverage of notable Georgia races »
Primary contests
- A Republican incumbent faced a conservative challenger.
- ☑ Brandon Beach (Inc.) ☐ Aaron Barlow
- A Republican incumbent faced a primary challenger over taxes and transportation issues.
- ☑ Charlie Bethel (Inc.) ☐ Conda Lowery-Goodson
List of candidates
General election
| 2016 Georgia Senate general election candidates | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No candidate | Ben Watson: 59,151 (I) |
|
| 2 | Lester Jackson: 54,264 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 3 | No candidate | William Ligon: 53,872 (I) |
|
| 4 | No candidate | Jack Hill: 54,539 (I) |
|
| 5 | Curt Thompson: 35,586 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 6 | Jaha Howard: 39,201 | Hunter Hill: 42,338 (I) |
|
| 7 | No candidate | Tyler Harper: 48,481 (I) |
|
| 8 | Gregory Williams: 20,661 | Ellis Black: 37,237 (I) |
|
| 9 | No candidate | P.K. Martin: 65,094 (I) |
|
| 10 | Emanuel Jones: 70,764 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 11 | No candidate | Dean Burke: 49,068 (I) |
|
| 12 | Freddie Sims: 48,863 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 13 | Ruenett Melton: 16,853 | Greg Kirk: 43,534 (I) |
|
| 14 | No candidate | Bruce Thompson: 63,251 (I) |
|
| 15 | Ed Harbison: 44,076 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 16 | No candidate | Marty Harbin: 66,383 (I) |
|
| 17 | Bill Blackmon: 32,772 | Rick Jeffares: 48,444 (I) |
|
| 18 | No candidate | John F. Kennedy: 60,751 (I) |
|
| 19 | No candidate | Blake Tillery: 43,329 |
|
| 20 | No candidate | Larry Walker: 60,774 (I) |
|
| 21 | No candidate | Brandon Beach: 78,154 (I) |
|
| 22 | Harold V. Jones II: 52,532 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 23 | No candidate | Jesse Stone: 52,831 (I) |
|
| 24 | Brenda Jordan: 25,988 | Lee Anderson: 56,883 |
|
| 25 | No candidate | Burt Jones: 60,036 (I) |
|
| 26 | David E. Lucas: 47,812 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 27 | Daniel Blackman: 20,153 | Michael E. Williams: 73,417 (I) |
|
| 28 | No candidate | Matt Brass: 68,100 |
|
| 29 | Ben Anderson: 26,282 | Josh McKoon: 47,258 (I) |
|
| 30 | No candidate | Michael Dugan: 58,574 (I) |
|
| 31 | No candidate | Bill Heath: 60,268 (I) |
|
| 32 | No candidate | Judson Hill: 78,117 (I) |
|
| 33 | Michael A. Rhett: 52,902 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 34 | Valencia Seay: 53,434 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 35 | Donzella James: 66,099 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 36 | Nan Orrock: 66,698 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 37 | No candidate | Lindsey Tippins: 70,588 (I) |
|
| 38 | Horacena Tate: 59,542 (I) |
James Morrow: 16,265 | |
| 39 | Vincent Fort: 67,041 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 40 | Tamara Johnson-Shealey: 32,785 | Fran Millar: 42,050 (I) |
|
| 41 | Steve Henson: 52,579 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 42 | Elena Parent: 62,146 (I) |
Kenneth Quarterman: 18,687 | |
| 43 | Tonya Anderson: 50,436 |
Janice Frey Van Ness: 21,175 (I) | |
| 44 | Gail Davenport: 66,050 (I) |
No candidate | |
| 45 | No candidate | Renee Unterman: 64,059 (I) |
|
| 46 | No candidate | Bill Cowsert: 62,565 (I) |
|
| 47 | No candidate | Frank Ginn: 57,837 (I) |
|
| 48 | No candidate | David Shafer: 51,546 (I) |
|
| 49 | No candidate | Butch Miller: 59,242 (I) |
|
| 50 | No candidate | John Wilkinson: 61,180 (I) |
|
| 51 | No candidate | Steve Gooch: 70,737 (I) |
|
| 52 | No candidate | Chuck Hufstetler: 52,820 (I) |
|
| 53 | No candidate | Jeff Mullis: 55,148 (I) |
|
| 54 | No candidate | Charlie Bethel: 46,908 (I) |
|
| 55 | Gloria Butler: 61,907 (I) |
Annette Davis Jackson: 17,686 | |
| 56 | Patrick Thompson: 32,969 | John Albers: 49,202 (I) |
|
Notes:
| |||
Primary election
| 2016 Georgia Senate primary candidates | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| District | |||
| 1 | No candidate | Ben Watson (I) | |
| 2 | Lester Jackson (I) |
No candidate | |
| 3 | No candidate | William Ligon (I) | |
| 4 | No candidate | Jack Hill (I) | |
| 5 | Curt Thompson (I) |
No candidate | |
| 6 | Jaha Howard |
Hunter Hill (I) | |
| 7 | No candidate | Tyler Harper (I) | |
| 8 | Gregory Williams |
Ellis Black (I) | |
| 9 | No candidate | P.K. Martin (I) | |
| 10 | Emanuel Jones (I) |
No candidate | |
| 11 | No candidate | Dean Burke (I) | |
| 12 | Freddie Sims (I) |
No candidate | |
| 13 | Ruenett Melton |
Greg Kirk (I) | |
| 14 | No candidate | Bruce Thompson (I) | |
| 15 | Ed Harbison (I) |
No candidate | |
| 16 | No candidate | Marty Harbin (I) | |
| 17 | Bill Blackmon |
Rick Jeffares (I) | |
| 18 | No candidate | John F. Kennedy (I) | |
| 19 | No candidate | Blake Tillery: 10,865 Delvis Dutton: 4,867 Kevin Parker: 3,128 | |
| 20 | No candidate | Larry Walker (I) | |
| 21 | No candidate | Aaron Barlow: 6,597 Brandon Beach: 9,238 (I) | |
| 22 | Harold V. Jones II (I) |
No candidate | |
| 23 | No candidate | Jesse Stone: 8,010 (I) Stephen Hammond: 2,415 | |
| 24 | Brenda Jordan |
Gregory Grzybowski: 3,429  Joe Edge: 3,274 Lee Anderson: 6,625 Pat Goodwin: 2,569 Peter Gibbons: 2,402 | |
| 25 | No candidate | Burt Jones (I) | |
| 26 | David E. Lucas (I) |
No candidate | |
| 27 | Daniel Blackman |
Michael E. Williams (I) | |
| 28 | No candidate | Hayden Marlowe: 2,408 Matt Brass: 10,716 | |
| 29 | Ben Anderson |
Josh McKoon (I) | |
| 30 | No candidate | Michael Dugan (I) | |
| 31 | No candidate | Bill Heath (I) | |
| 32 | No candidate | Judson Hill (I) | |
| 33 | Michael A. Rhett (I) |
No candidate | |
| 34 | Valencia Seay (I) |
No candidate | |
| 35 | Donzella James: 7,214 (I) Tony Phillips: 2,407 |
No candidate | |
| 36 | Nan Orrock (I) |
No candidate | |
| 37 | No candidate | Lindsey Tippins (I) | |
| 38 | Horacena Tate (I) |
James Morrow | |
| 39 | Vincent Fort (I) |
No candidate | |
| 40 | Tamara Johnson-Shealey |
Fran Millar: 7,027 (I) Paul Maner: 1,762 | |
| 41 | Steve Henson (I) |
No candidate | |
| 42 | Elena Parent (I) |
Kenneth Quarterman | |
| 43 | Dee Dawkins-Haigler: 4,391 Toney Collins: 2,489 Tonya Anderson: 5,871 |
Janice Frey Van Ness (I) | |
| 44 | Gail Davenport (I) |
No candidate | |
| 45 | No candidate | Renee Unterman (I) | |
| 46 | No candidate | Bill Cowsert: 11,776 (I) Patricia Daugherty: 3,670 | |
| 47 | No candidate | Frank Ginn: 10,189 (I) Tyler Hollifield: 2,456 | |
| 48 | No candidate | David Shafer (I) | |
| 49 | No candidate | Butch Miller (I) | |
| 50 | No candidate | John Wilkinson: 17,712 (I) Roy Benifield: 7,729 | |
| 51 | No candidate | John Williamson: 7,567 Steve Gooch: 20,598 (I) | |
| 52 | No candidate | Chuck Hufstetler (I) | |
| 53 | No candidate | Jeff Mullis: 9,720 (I) Lanny Thomas: 4,884 | |
| 54 | No candidate | Charlie Bethel: 13,066 (I) Conda Lowery-Goodson: 4,277 | |
| 55 | Gloria Butler (I) |
Annette Davis Jackson | |
| 56 | Akhtar Sadiq: 1,334 Patrick Thompson: 1,507 |
John Albers (I) | |
Notes:
| |||
Margins of victory
The average margin of victory for contested races in the Georgia State Senate in 2016 was higher than the national average. Out of 56 races in the Georgia State Senate in 2016, 13 were contested, meaning at least two candidates competed for that seat in the general election. The average margin of victory across these races was 35.2 percent. Across contested single-winner state legislative elections in 2016, the average margin of victory was 29.01 percent.[1]
| Democratic candidates in the Georgia State Senate saw larger margins of victory than Republican candidates in 2016. Democrats won 18 races. In the four races where a winning Democrat faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 51.8 percent. Republicans won 38 races in 2016. In the nine races where a winning Republican faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 27.9 percent. |
| More Republican candidates than Democratic candidates saw margins of victory that were less than 10 percentage points. One of the 13 contested races in 2016—7.7 percent—saw a margin of victory that was 10 percent or less: District 6. It was won by a Republican. |
Georgia State Senate: 2016 Margins of Victory Less than 10 Percent District Winning Party Margin of Victory District 6 R 3.8 percent
| The average margin of victory for incumbents in the Georgia State Senate who ran for re-election and won in 2016 was higher than the national average. Ffity-one incumbents who ran for re-election in 2016 won. The average margin of victory for the 11 winning Georgia State Senate incumbents who faced a challenger in 2016 was 34.5 percent. The average margin of victory for all winning incumbents in contested single-winner state legislative elections in 2016 was 31.8 percent. |
| Democratic incumbents in the Georgia State Senate saw larger margins of victory than Republican incumbents. 17 Democratic incumbents won re-election. In the three races where a winning Democratic incumbent faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 55.5 percent. Thirty-four Republican incumbents won re-election. In the eight races where a winning Republican incumbent faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 26.7 percent. |
Georgia State Senate: 2016 Margin of Victory Analysis Party Elections won Average margin of victory[2] Races with incumbent victories Average margin of victory for incumbents[2] Unopposed incumbents Unopposed races Percent unopposed Democratic 18 51.8 percent 17 55.5 percent 14 14 77.8 percent Republican 38 27.9 percent 34 26.7 percent 26 29 76.3 percent Total 56 35.2 percent 51 34.5 percent 40 43 76.8 percent
Click [show] on the tables below to see the margin of victory in Georgia State Senate districts in 2016.
| Georgia State Senate: 2016 Margin of Victory by District | ||
|---|---|---|
| District | Winning Party | Margin of Victory |
| District 1 | R | Unopposed |
| District 2 | D | Unopposed |
| District 3 | R | Unopposed |
| District 4 | R | Unopposed |
| District 5 | D | Unopposed |
| District 6 | R | 3.9 percent |
| District 7 | R | Unopposed |
| District 8 | R | 28.6 percent |
| District 9 | R | Unopposed |
| District 10 | D | Unopposed |
| District 11 | R | Unopposed |
| District 12 | D | Unopposed |
| District 13 | R | 44.2 percent |
| District 14 | R | Unopposed |
| District 15 | D | Unopposed |
| District 16 | R | Unopposed |
| District 17 | R | 19.3 percent |
| District 18 | R | Unopposed |
| District 19 | R | Unopposed |
| District 20 | R | Unopposed |
| District 21 | R | Unopposed |
| District 22 | D | Unopposed |
| District 23 | R | Unopposed |
| District 24 | R | 37.3 percent |
| District 25 | R | Unopposed |
| District 26 | D | Unopposed |
| District 27 | R | 56.9 percent |
| District 28 | R | Unopposed |
| District 29 | R | 28.5 percent |
| District 30 | R | Unopposed |
| District 31 | R | Unopposed |
| District 32 | R | Unopposed |
| District 33 | D | Unopposed |
| District 34 | D | Unopposed |
| District 35 | D | Unopposed |
| District 36 | D | Unopposed |
| District 37 | R | Unopposed |
| District 38 | D | 57.1 percent |
| District 39 | D | Unopposed |
| District 40 | R | 12.4 percent |
| District 41 | D | Unopposed |
| District 42 | D | 53.8 percent |
| District 43 | D | 40.9 percent |
| District 44 | D | Unopposed |
| District 45 | R | Unopposed |
| District 46 | R | Unopposed |
| District 47 | R | Unopposed |
| District 48 | R | Unopposed |
| District 49 | R | Unopposed |
| District 50 | R | Unopposed |
| District 51 | R | Unopposed |
| District 52 | R | Unopposed |
| District 53 | R | Unopposed |
| District 54 | R | Unopposed |
| District 55 | D | 55.6 percent |
| District 56 | R | 19.8 percent |
Important dates and deadlines
- See also: Georgia elections, 2016
The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Georgia in 2016.
| Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline | Event type | Event description | |
| January 31, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| March 7, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing period for party candidates opens | |
| March 11, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing period for party candidates closes | |
| March 31, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| May 24, 2016 | Election date | Primary election | |
| June 27, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing period opens for independent and political body candidates | |
| June 30, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| July 1, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing period closes for independent and political body candidates | |
| July 12, 2016 | Ballot access | Petition filing deadline for independent and political body candidates | |
| July 26, 2016 | Election date | Primary runoff | |
| September 6, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing deadline for write-in candidates | |
| September 30, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| October 25, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| November 8, 2016 | Election date | General election | |
| December 6, 2016 | Election date | General runoff | |
| December 31, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| Sources: Georgia Secretary of State, "2016 Elections and Voter Registration Calendar," accessed September 21, 2015 Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, "Campaign Disclosure Report Filing Schedule," accessed November 25, 2015 | |||
Competitiveness
Candidates unopposed by a major party
In 43 of the 56 districts up for election in 2016, there was only one major party candidate running for election. A total of 14 Democrats and 29 Republicans were guaranteed election barring unforeseen circumstances.
Two major party candidates faced off in the general election in 13 of the 56 districts up for election.
Primary challenges
A total of 12 incumbents faced primary competition on May 24. Three incumbents did not seek re-election in 2016 and another 41 incumbents advanced past the primary without opposition.
Retired incumbents
Three incumbent senators did not run for re-election, while 53 (94.6%) ran for re-election. A list of those incumbents, all Republicans, can be found above.
Results from 2014
There were 6,057 seats in 87 chambers with elections in 2014. All three aspects of Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Index—the number of open seats, incumbents facing primary opposition, and general elections between partisan candidates—showed poor results compared to the prior election cycle. States with elections in 2014 held fewer general elections between partisan candidates. Additionally, fewer incumbents faced primary opposition and more incumbents ran for re-election than in recent years.
Since 2010, when the Competitiveness Index was established, there had not been an even-year election cycle to do statistically worse in any of the three categories. See the following chart for a breakdown of those scores between each year.
| Overall Competitiveness | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | |
| Competitiveness Index | 36.2 | 35.8 | 31.4 |
| % Open Seats | 18.6% | 21.2% | 17.0% |
| % Incumbent with primary challenge | 22.7% | 24.6% | 20.1% |
| % Candidates with major party opposition | 67.3% | 61.7% | 57.0% |
The following table details Georgia's rates for open seats, incumbents that faced primary challenges, and major party competition in the 2014 general election.
| Georgia General Assembly 2014 Competitiveness | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % Open Seats | % Incumbent with primary challenge | % Candidates with major party opposition | Competitiveness Index | Overall rank |
| 7.2% | 21.9% | 20.3% | 16.5 | 45 |
Historical context
Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.
Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.
Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.
Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.
Campaign contributions
The following chart shows how many candidates ran for State Senate in Georgia in past years and the cumulative amount of campaign contributions in State Senate races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests.[3]
| Georgia State Senate Donations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates | Amount |
| 2014 | 99 | $7,828,923 |
| 2012 | 92 | $8,906,689 |
| 2010 | 110 | $8,048,652 |
| 2008 | 96 | $6,633,987 |
| 2006 | 96 | $9,968,234 |
State comparison
The map below shows the average contributions to 2014 candidates for state senates. The average contributions raised by state senate candidates in 2014 was $148,144. Georgia, at $79,080 per candidate, is ranked 26 of 42 for state senate chambers with the highest average contributions. Hover your mouse over a state to see the average campaign contributions for that state’s senate candidates in 2014.[3][4]
Qualifications
Paragraph 3 of Section 2 of Article 3 of the Georgia Constitution states: "At the time of their election, the members of the Senate shall be citizens of the United States, shall be at least 25 years of age, shall have been citizens of this state for at least two years, and shall have been legal residents of the territory embraced within the district from which elected for at least one year."[5]
See also
External links
- Georgia Secretary of State - Qualifying Candidate Information
- Georgia Secretary of State - Primary results
Footnotes
- ↑ This calculation excludes chambers that had elections where two or more members were elected in a race. These chambers are the Arizona House, the New Hampshire House, the North Dakota House, the South Dakota House, the Vermont House, the Vermont Senate, and the West Virginia House.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Excludes unopposed elections
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 followthemoney.org, "Contributions to candidates and committees in elections in Georgia," accessed July 28, 2015
- ↑ This map relies on data collected in July 2015.
- ↑ Georgia State Senate, "Georgia Constitution," accessed June 27, 2023
