2022 Georgia state elections


Several elections took place in the U.S. state of Georgia in 2022. The general election was held on November 8, 2022. A runoff election for one of Georgia's seats in the United States Senate was held on December 6, 2022. The runoff was scheduled because none of the candidates for Senate received 50% of the statewide vote in the general election. In addition to the Senate seat, all of Georgia's seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Also up for election were all of Georgia's executive officers and legislative seats, as well as one seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission. The Republican Party decisively won every single statewide office in Georgia except for the Federal Senate race which narrowly went Democratic in 2022.The primary election were held on May 24 and primary runoff on June 21
This was the first election following the 2020 United States redistricting cycle.

Federal offices

United States House of Representatives

Following the 2020 election, Democrats held their largest share of Georgia congressional seats since 2008, with the gain of the 7th district by Carolyn Bourdeaux. In addition, the number of women representing Georgia grew from one to four with the re-election of Democrat Lucy McBath and the elections of Democrats Bordeaux, Nikema Williams and Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, resulting in the first Georgia delegation with more than one woman in membership.

United States Senate

Incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock won the 2020–2021 special election against incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler to fill the remainder of former Sen. Johnny Isakson's term. No candidate in the open election on November 3 received the 50% required by Georgia law to avoid a runoff, a type of election colloquially known as a "jungle primary"—Warnock received just 32.9% of the vote—and so a runoff election between Warnock and Loeffler was held on January 5, 2021, which Warnock won with 51% of the vote.
Former Republican senator David Perdue, who lost his race to Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff in 2021, filed paperwork to run for this seat. A week after filing the paperwork, however, Perdue announced that he would not pursue another race for the Senate. Loeffler considered running again, while former U.S. Representative Doug Collins declined to run after heavy speculation that he would enter the race. Herschel Walker, a professional football player, announced in August 2021 that he would join the Republican primary.

Governor

Governor Brian Kemp was elected in 2018 with 50.2% of the vote. He ran for re-election, facing primary challenges from former U.S. Senator David Perdue and several other candidates.
Stacey Abrams, former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and Democratic nominee for governor in 2018, ran unchallenged for the Democratic nomination.
Kemp easily won reelection, receiving 53.4% to Abrams’ 45.9%.

Lieutenant governor

Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, who was first elected in 2018, declined to run for a second term after he openly contradicted [Attempts to overturn the 2020 Georgia State Senate election|2020 United States presidential election|claims of election fraud] in the 2020 presidential election.
State legislator Burt Jones won the Republican nomination and was one of two Trump-endorsed statewide candidates in Georgia to do so, along with Herschel Walker in his run for U.S. Senate. Attorney Charlie Bailey won the Democratic primary in a runoff.
Jones was declared the winner on November 9 after all the votes were counted.

Secretary of state

Incumbent secretary of state Brad Raffensperger ran for re-election, facing primary challenges from Republican Congressman Jody Hice and former Alpharetta mayor David Belle Isle.
State Representative Bee Nguyen, former Cobb County Democratic Party Chairman, Dr. Michael Owens, former Darton State College professor Manswell Peterson, former Fulton County Commission Chair John Eaves, and former Georgia State Senator and Mayor of Milledgeville Floyd L. Griffin Jr. all declared their candidacies for the Democratic nomination.

Attorney general

Republican incumbent attorney general Chris Carr ran for re-election.
State Senator Jen Jordan ran for the Democratic nomination. Charlie Bailey, former Fulton County senior assistant district attorney and 2018 Democratic nominee for attorney general, withdrew as a candidate in this race to run for lieutenant governor.

Labor commissioner

Incumbent Republican Mark Butler was eligible to seek a fourth term in office, but chose to retire.

Republican primary

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

  • Kartik Bhatt, consumer-member of the Georgia Board of Examiners for the Certification of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators and Laboratory Analysts
  • Mike Coan, former state representative

Declined

Democratic primary

Nominee

Eliminated in runoff

  • Nicole Horn, entrepreneur

Eliminated in initial primary

  • Thomas Dean, courier
  • Lester Jackson, state senator
  • Nadia Surrency, entrepreneur and philanthropist

Libertarian primary

Nominee

  • Emily Anderson, printer

State Superintendent of Schools

Incumbent Republican superintendent Richard Woods sought a third term in office.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Did not file
  • Ken Pullin, former Republican state representative

Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner

Incumbent Republican commissioner John King, who was appointed to the position in 2019 after the resignation of Jim Beck, ran for a full term.

Republican primary

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

  • Ben Cowart, property developer
  • Patrick Witt, former Trump administration official ''''

Democratic primary

Nominee

  • Janice Laws Robinson, insurance broker

Eliminated in runoff

  • Raphael Baker, insurance broker

Eliminated in initial primary

Agriculture Commissioner

Incumbent Republican commissioner Gary Black was eligible to seek a fourth term in office, but instead chose to run for U.S. Senate.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Nakita Hemingway, cut-flower farmer
    Eliminated in primary
  • Winfred Dukes, state representative
  • Fred Swann, mushroom farmer and nominee for agriculture commissioner in 2018
    Did not file
  • Deborah Jackson, attorney, former mayor of Lithonia, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2020

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • David Raudabaugh, salesman

Public Service Commission

On August 19, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling by Judge Steven D. Grimberg in the case Rose v. Raffensperger postponing both Georgia Public Service Commission elections which were due to be held on November 8, 2022. As a result, the following nominees for Districts 2 and 3 were removed from the general election ballot. The elections were held in 2025.

District 2

Incumbent Republican Commissioner Tim Echols ran for re-election.

Republican primary

Nominee

Democratic primary

Nominee
  • Patty Durand, former president of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative
    Withdrew
  • Russell Edwards, Athens-Clarke County commissioner ''''
    Primary results

Libertarian primary

Nominee
  • Colin McKinney, physician

District 3 (special)

On July 21, 2021, Republican Fitz Johnson was appointed by Governor Kemp to fill the vacancy created when incumbent commissioner Chuck Eaton resigned after being appointed to the Fulton County Superior Court. Johnson would run in the special election to serve the remainder of Eaton's term.

Republican primary

Nominee

Democratic primary

Nominee
  • Sheila Edwards, public relations professional and community activist
    Eliminated in primary
  • Chandra Farley, energy consultant and chair of the Georgia NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Committee
  • Missy Moore, commercial insurance agency owner
    Primary results

General Assembly

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

District attorneys

9 out of 49 judicial circuits held elections for district attorney.

Judicial elections

Three seats on the Supreme Court of Georgia were up for nonpartisan statewide election to succeed justices Verda Colvin, Carla Wong McMillian and Shawn Ellen LaGrua. Of these three, only Colvin's seat was contested by attorney Veronica Brinson, the Democratic nominee for Georgia's 25th State Senate district in 2020. Colvin won the election on May 24 with 68% of the votes.

Colvin's seat

Elections were also held for three seats on the Georgia Court of Appeals to succeed judges Anne Elizabeth Barnes, Chris McFadden and Trea Pipkin. All three won their races uncontested.

Local elections

During the regular primary, most counties and several consolidated city-county governments held nonpartisan elections for mayor, select city council or county commission seats, and select board of education seats, including Columbus, Athens, and Augusta.

Ballot measures

Amendment 1

"Suspend Compensation for Assembly Members and Public Officials Indicted for a Felony Measure"
To suspend compensation for public officials while the individual is suspended from office for a felony indictment.

Amendment 2

"Temporary Property Tax Change for Disaster Areas Measure"
To authorize local governments to grant tax relief to properties that are damaged due to a disaster and located within a declared disaster area.

Referendum A

"Timber Equipment Exempt from Property Taxes Measure"
To exempt timber equipment owned by a timber producer from property taxes.

Referendum B

"Merged Family-Owned Farms and Dairy and Eggs Tax Exemption Measure"
To expand agricultural equipment tax exemption and produce to include those owned by merged family farms.