2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election

A special election filled the remainder of the term in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district in the 116th United States Congress. Incumbent representative John Lewis, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2019, died on July 17, 2020, during his 17th term.^[1][2][3]

2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election

← 2018 September 29, 2020 December 1, 2020 (runoff) November 2020 →
Georgia's 5th congressional district
Candidate Kwanza Hall Robert Michael Franklin Jr. Party Democratic Democratic Popular vote 13,450 11,332 Percentage 54.27% 45.73%
County results Hall:      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. Representative before election Vacant Elected U.S. Representative Kwanza Hall Democratic

Background

As established by the Constitution of Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp ordered a special election to fill out the remainder of Lewis's term for September 29, 2020.^[4] Since no candidate reached 50% on September 29, there was a special runoff election on December 1.^[5] This meant that the runoff election took place four weeks after the regular election for a full two-year term. The runoff winner would thus serve for just one month covering the holiday season.

On July 20, 2020, the state Democratic Party announced that State Senator Nikema Williams would replace Lewis on the November ballot,^[6] which she won with over 300,000 votes (85%). Williams did not run in the special election to serve the remainder of Lewis's term.^[7]

Candidates

Democratic Party

Advanced to runoff

• Robert Michael Franklin Jr., former president of Morehouse College (2007–2012) and professor at Emory University^[8]
• Kwanza Hall, former Atlanta City Councilman (2006–2017) and 2017 Atlanta mayoral election candidate^[8]

Eliminated in blanket primary

• Barrington Martin II, educator, 2020 candidate in Georgia's 5th congressional district^[8]
• Mable Thomas, state representative and former Atlanta City Councilwoman (1997–2003)^[8]
• Keisha Waites, former state representative (2012–2017), 2020 candidate in Georgia's 13th congressional district^[8]

Declined

• Meria Carstarphen, former Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools (2014–2020)^[8]
• Nikema Williams, state senator and chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic Party (opted to run in the general election instead)^[8]

Libertarian Party

Eliminated in blanket primary

• Chase Oliver, customer service specialist^[8]

Independent

Eliminated in blanket primary

• Steven Muhammad, Community Organizer^[8]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[9]	Safe D	August 21, 2020
Inside Elections^[10]	Safe D	August 21, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[11]	Safe D	July 23, 2020
Politico^[12]	Safe D	July 6, 2020
Daily Kos^[13]	Safe D	August 17, 2020
RCP^[14]	Safe D	June 9, 2020
Niskanen^[15]	Safe D	July 26, 2020

Results

Georgia's 5th congressional district special election, September 29, 2020^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kwanza Hall	11,104	31.75%
	Democratic	Robert Michael Franklin Jr.	9,987	28.55%
	Democratic	Mable Thomas	6,692	19.13%
	Democratic	Keisha Waites	4,255	12.17%
	Democratic	Barrington Martin II	1,944	5.56%
	Libertarian	Chase Oliver	712	2.04%
	Independent	Steven Muhammad	282	0.8%
Total votes			34,967	100.00%

Runoff

2020 Georgia's 5th congressional district special election runoff, December 1, 2020^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kwanza Hall	13,450	54.27%
	Democratic	Robert Michael Franklin Jr.	11,332	45.73%
Total votes			24,782	100.00%
	Democratic hold

See also

• 2020 Georgia (U.S. state) elections

References

1. Veronica Stracqualursi (July 19, 2020). "What happens to John Lewis' vacant US House seat in Georgia". CNN. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
2. Perrett, Connor. "How Democrats plan to find a replacement for John Lewis on November's ballot by Monday". Business Insider. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
3. "The process of replacing Rep. John Lewis in the US House". 11Alive.com. July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
4. "Atlanta lowering flags indefinitely to honor Rep. John Lewis". KSTP. July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
5. Raymond, Jonathan (July 31, 2020). "Here's who qualified to run in the special election to fill John Lewis' seat". WXIA-TV – "11 Alive". Retrieved September 27, 2020.
6. Alex Rogers (July 20, 2020). "Georgia state Sen. Nikema Williams picked to replace Lewis on November ballot". CNN. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
7. Panetta, Grace. "Nikema Williams is selected as the Democratic nominee to replace Rep. John Lewis on the ballot for November". Business Insider. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
8. Raffensperger, Brad (August 13, 2020). "United States Representative District 5 Qualifying Candidate Information". Elections Secretary of State Georgia Government.
9. "2020 Senate Race Ratings for April 19, 2019". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
10. "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
11. . Sabato's Crystal Ball. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
12. "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
13. "Daily Kos Elections releases initial Senate race ratings for 2020". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
14. "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.
15. . Niskanen Center. April 28, 2020. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
16. "Results Summary". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
17. "Results Summary". Georgia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 14, 2020.

External links

• Robert Michael Frankin Jr. (D) for Congress
• Kwanza Hall (D) for Congress