2010 Georgia state elections


A general election was held in the U.S. state of Georgia on November 2, 2010. All of Georgia's executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, all of Georgia's thirteen seats in the United States House of Representatives and all seats in both houses of the Georgia General Assembly. Primary elections were held on July 20, 2010. Primary runoffs, necessary if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, were held on August 10, 2010. General runoffs were held on November 30, 2010.

Governor

Incumbent governor Sonny Perdue was ineligible to seek re-election due to term limits. The Republican primary featured four candidates who received over 15% of the vote in the first round: former Secretary of State Karen Handel, former U.S. representative Nathan Deal, former Georgia state senator Eric Johnson, and Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine. Handel, Deal, and Johnson all resigned their offices during or shortly before the campaign. Because no candidate received a majority of the vote, the race went to a runoff between the top two candidates, Handel and Deal.
Deal won the runoff narrowly, with a margin of about 0.4%, or 2,519 votes out of 579,551 cast. The Democratic nomination was won easily by former governor Roy Barnes without a runoff; his most prominent opponent was Attorney General Thurbert Baker.
In the general election, Deal defeated Barnes, becoming just the third Republican to be elected Governor of Georgia, after Perdue and Reconstruction-era governor Rufus Bullock.

Lieutenant governor

Incumbent lieutenant governor Casey Cagle was seeking reelection. Carol Porter won the Democratic nomination.

Republican primary

Casey Cagle, incumbent lieutenant governor of Georgia

Democratic primary

Libertarian

Dan Barber, self-employed
  • Rhonda Martini, dentist, dropped out due to family issues

Secretary of State

Incumbent Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who succeeded Karen Handel after she resigned to focus on her gubernatorial bid, sought election to a full term and won the Republican primary on July 20. Georganna Sinkfield defeated Gail Buckner in a runoff for the Democratic nomination.

Republican primary

Brian Kemp, incumbent Secretary of State of Georgia

Democratic primary

Libertarian

David Chastain, aeronautics industry analyst

Attorney general

Incumbent attorney general of Georgia Thurbert Baker retired from his position to run for Governor of Georgia. Ken Hodges won the Democratic nomination, while Sam Olens defeated Preston Smith in a runoff for the Republican nomination.

Democratic primary

Ken Hodges, former Dougherty Circuit District Attorney

Republican primary

Sam Olens, chairman of the Cobb County Commission

Libertarian

Don Smart, attorney

State school superintendent

Incumbent superintendent of education Kathy Cox originally intended to seek re-election, but on May 17 announced that she would resign effective July 1, 2010 in order to take a position as CEO of a new non-profit, the U.S. Education Delivery Institute in Washington D.C. William Bradley Bryant was appointed by Gov. Perdue to fill the vacancy, but failed to qualify to run in the November election as an independent. Joe Martin and John Barge won the Democratic and Republican nominations, respectively.

Republican primary

John Barge, school system administrator

Democratic Primary

  • Beth Farokhi, university administrator Joe Martin, former school board president
  • Brian Westlake, teacher

Libertarian

Kira Willis, teacher

Commissioner of insurance

Incumbent commissioner of insurance John Oxendine was retiring from his position to run for Governor of Georgia. Ralph Hudgens defeated Maria Sheffield in a runoff for the Republican nomination, while Mary Squires was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Republican primary

  • Dennis Cain, insurance agent
  • Rick Collum, Colquitt County magistrate judge
  • Seth Harp, state senator Ralph Hudgens, state senator
  • Tom Knox, state representative
  • John Mamalakis, insurance agent
  • Stephen Northington, insurance agent
  • Gerry Purcell, health benefits consultant
  • Maria Sheffield, attorney

Democratic Primary

Mary Squires, former state senator

Libertarian

Shane Bruce, blogger

Commissioner of Agriculture

Incumbent Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin was retiring in 2010. Gary Black won the Republican nomination, while J.B. Powell was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Democratic primary

J.B. Powell, state senator

Republican primary

Gary Black, Georgia Agribusiness Council President
  • Darwin Carter, former Reagan Administration USDA official

Libertarian

  • '''Kevin Cherry'''

Commissioner of Labor

Incumbent Commissioner of Labor Mike Thurmond was retiring from his position to run for the United States Senate. Darryl Hicks narrowly won the Democratic nomination, according to unofficial results, while Mark Butler easily won the Republican nomination.

Republican primary

Mark Butler, state representative
  • Melvin Everson, state representative

Democratic primary

  • Terry Coleman, Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture and former state House Speaker Darryl Hicks, attorney, lobbyist, community activist

Libertarian

  • '''Will Costa'''

Public Service Commission

In 2010, one seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission was up for election. Though candidates must come from the districts that they wish to represent on the commission, they are elected statewide.

District 2 (Eastern)

Incumbent Public Service Commissioner Bobby Baker was retiring in 2010. Tim Echols defeated John Douglas in a runoff for the Republican nomination, while Keith Moffett was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Republican primary


Democratic primary

  • '''Keith Moffett'''
    Primary results

Libertarian

Jim Sendelbach, psychotherapist and 2007 10th Congressional district House candidate.

Georgia General Assembly

All 56 seats in the Georgia State Senate and 180 seats in the Georgia House of Representatives were up for election.

Judicial elections

One seat on the Georgia Supreme Court and three seats on the Georgia Court of Appeals were up for nonpartisan statewide elections. Of these, two were contested: Supreme Court justice David Nahmias faced challengers in his bid for reelection while lawyer Chris McFadden was elected to an open seat on the Court of Appeals.

Georgia Supreme Court, Nahmias seat

Candidates

Georgia Court of Appeals, Johnson seat

Candidates

Ballot measures

Six statewide ballot measures appeared on the ballot.