- Share on WeChat
-
Gun safety advocate Lucy McBath (D) defeated incumbent Rep. Karen Handel (R) and write-in candidate Jeremy Stubbs in the general election for Georgia's 6th Congressional District on November 6, 2018.
All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. The Democratic Party gained a net total of 40 seats, winning control of the chamber. This race was identified as a 2018 battleground that might have affected partisan control of the U.S. House in the 116th Congress. Heading into the election, the Republican Party was in the majority holding 235 seats to Democrats' 193 seats, with seven vacant seats. Democrats needed to win 23 GOP-held seats in 2018 to win control of the House. From 1918 to 2016, the president’s party lost an average of 29 seats in midterm elections.
Handel was first elected to Congress in a 2017 special election, defeating Jon Ossoff (D) by a margin of 4 percentage points. It was the most expensive U.S. House race in history. The two campaigns, along with outside organizations, spent more than $50 million on the election.
National Democrats were still interested in the district—which includes the northern Atlanta suburbs—in 2018. Georgia's 6th contains Cobb County, which is one of six reverse-pivot counties that voted for Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016 after voting for John McCain (R) in 2008 and Mitt Romney (R) in 2012.
Georgia's 6th Congressional District election, 2018
| Poll | Poll sponsor |  McBath |
 Handel | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Times/Siena College October 28-November 4, 2018 | N/A | 46% | 44% | 9% | +/-5.0 | 421 |
| Thirty-Ninth Street Strategies October 20-22, 2018 | McBath | 47% | 48% | 5% | +/-4.9 | 400 |
| JMC Analytics/Bold Blue Campaigns October 13-18, 2018 | N/A | 45% | 49% | 6% | +/-4.5 | 500 |
| Thirty-Ninth Street Strategies August 22-27, 2018 | McBath | 47% | 49% | 4% | +/-4.3 | 600 |
| AVERAGES | 46.25% | 47.5% | 6% | +/-4.68 | 480.25 |
The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karen Handel | Republican Party | $8,707,005 | $8,619,316 | $87,689 | As of December 31, 2018 |
| Lucy McBath | Democratic Party | $2,704,006 | $2,485,322 | $218,684 | As of December 31, 2018 |
| Karen Handel | Republican Party | $65,982 | $65,982 | $0 | As of July 10, 2017 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018.
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
|||||
This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Georgia from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Georgia Secretary of State.
This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Georgia every year from 2000 to 2016.
Election results (President of the United States), Georgia 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Donald Trump |
51.1% | Hillary Clinton |
45.9% | 5.2% |
| 2012 | Mitt Romney |
53.3% | Barack Obama |
45.5% | 7.8% |
| 2008 | John McCain |
52.2% | Barack Obama |
47.0% | 5.2% |
| 2004 | George Bush |
58.0% | John Kerry |
41.4% | 16.6% |
| 2000 | George Bush |
55.0% | Al Gore |
43.2% | 11.8% |
This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Georgia from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.
Election results (U.S. Senator), Georgia 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Johnny Isakson |
54.8% | Jim Barksdale |
41.0% | 13.8% |
| 2014 | David Perdue |
52.9% | Michelle Nunn |
45.2% | 7.7% |
| 2010 | Johnny Isakson |
58.3% | Mike Thurmond |
39.0% | 19.3% |
| 2008 | Saxby Chambliss |
49.8% | Jim Martin |
46.8% | 3.0% |
| 2004 | Johnny Isakson |
57.9% | Denise Majette |
40.0% | 17.9% |
| 2002 | Saxby Chambliss |
52.8% | Max Cleland |
45.9% | 6.9% |
This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Georgia.
Election results (Governor), Georgia 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Nathan Deal |
52.8% | Jason Carter |
44.9% | 7.9% |
| 2010 | Nathan Deal |
53.0% | Roy Barnes |
43.0% | 10.0% |
| 2006 | Sonny Perdue |
57.9% | Mark Taylor |
38.2% | 19.7% |
| 2002 | Sonny Perdue |
51.4% | Roy Barnes |
46.3% | 5.1% |
This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Georgia in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.
Congressional delegation, Georgia 2000-2016
| Year | Republicans | Republicans (%) | Democrats | Democrats (%) | Balance of power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 10 |
71.4% | 4 |
28.6% | R+6 |
| 2014 | 10 |
71.4% | 4 |
28.6% | R+6 |
| 2012 | 9 |
64.3% | 5 |
35.7% | R+4 |
| 2010 | 8 |
61.5% | 5 |
38.5% | R+3 |
| 2008 | 7 |
53.8% | 6 |
46.2% | R+1 |
| 2006 | 7 |
53.8% | 6 |
46.2% | R+1 |
| 2004 | 7 |
53.8% | 6 |
46.2% | R+1 |
| 2002 | 8 |
61.5% | 5 |
38.5% | R+3 |
| 2000 | 8 |
72.7% | 3 |
27.3% | R+5 |
A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.
Georgia Party Control: 1992-2019
11 years of Democratic trifectas • 15 years of Republican trifectas
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Demographic data for Georgia
| Georgia | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | 10,199,398 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 57,513 | 3,531,905 |
| Gender | ||
| Female: | 51.2% | 50.8% |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 60.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 30.9% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 3.6% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.1% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 9.1% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 85.4% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 28.8% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $49,620 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 21.1% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Georgia. | ||
As of July 2017, Georgia's three largest cities were Atlanta (pop. est. 470,000), Columbus (pop. est. 200,000), and Augusta (pop. est. 200,000).
