Former Calhoun Councilman Matt Barton (R) defeated attorney Jesse Vaughn (R) for the Georgia House District 5 seat in a special election runoff on February 5. The runoff came about after none of the six candidates in the special election on January 8 won more than 50 percent of the vote. Vaughn, who earned the most votes on January 8, and Barton, who placed second, advanced to the February runoff.

 

The special election was called in November 2018 after the death of Rep. John Meadows (R). Meadows had represented House District 5 since 2004. He died on November 12, 2018, at the age of 74, just a few days after winning re-election.

 

Georgia will also hold a state legislative special election on February 12 to fill the House District 176 seat. Former Rep. Jason Shaw (R), who represented the district from 2011 to 2018, was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal (R) as the District 1 member of the Georgia Public Service Commission, beginning January 1, 2019. Four candidates–Barbara Griffin (D), Barbara Seidman (D), James Burchett (R), and Franklin Patten (R)–will face off in the special election. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getting candidates will advance to a runoff.