Sept. 24 (UPI) — Republican Jason Dickerson won a runoff in the special election for a Georgia state Senate seat, but Debra Shigley fared better than fellow Democrats did in the 2024 election in the highly red district.
Dickerson won 61% of the vote compared to Shigley’s 39% in Tuesday’s election in District 21 just north of Atlanta, The Washington Post reported. In the 2024 presidential election, President Donald Trump won with 67% of votes and former Vice President Kamala Harris won 33%.
The District 21 state Senate seat was left vacant in March after Trump tapped then-state Sen. Brandon Beach to serve as U.S. treasurer. The district comprises parts of Fulton and Cherokee Counties.
Shigley won the August general election for the seat with 40% of the vote. At that time, though, she faced a crowded ballot of six Republican candidates, The Hill reported. During that election, Dickerson received 17% of the vote, but since neither won an outright majority of votes, it forced a runoff.
Despite Shigley’s win in August, District 21 was largely expected to remain red.