ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia voters turned out Republican incumbents well down the ballot on Tuesday, handing Democrats the state school superintendent post and putting them ahead in the races for labor, insurance and agriculture commissioner.
The upsets came on a night when Republicans lost every statewide race on the ballot. The party had started Election Day in charge of the Senate, the House and all of the state’s elected constitutional offices.
Democrats also took the governor’s office, a first for the party in close to 30 years, and were within reach of a majority in the Georgia House as votes were still being counted, while voters approved three amendments to the state constitution.
In the schools race, educator Lydia Powell defeated Superintendent Richard Woods, who had run the state Department of Education since 2015 and was reelected in 2018 and 2022. Powell will be the first Democrat in the job in more than 30 years and the first Black woman to oversee a public school system that serves upward of 1.7 million students in more than 180 districts. Woods conceded on social media Tuesday night and offered his congratulations.
In the other three contests, unofficial results late Tuesday showed Democrats ahead by roughly 8 to 9 points. Bárbara Rivera Holmes, the appointed labor commissioner, trailed Nikki Porcher by about 9 points, and she released a statement conceding and congratulating Porcher. In the insurance race, Democrat Keisha Sean Waites was running about 8 points in front of incumbent John King. And for agriculture, Republican Tyler Harper was down nearly 8 points to Democrat Katherine Juhan-Arnold.
Black women won a long list of offices on the night, including the school superintendent, labor, insurance and agriculture commissioner seats as well as governor, attorney general, secretary of state and a seat on the Public Service Commission.
The Georgia Republican Party issued an unsigned statement saying it respects the outcome and plans to rebuild through its local parties and new leaders.
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