Marcye Scott and Everton Blair moved to an Aug. 25 runoff in the special election for Georgia’s 13th District after no candidate reached a majority, setting up a short but consequential contest to fill the late Rep. David Scott’s seat for the remainder of his term. Neither candidate cleared the 50% threshold on election night, so voters will return to decide who finishes the job until the November winner takes the full term. This runoff matters in a closely divided House, even if it only covers a few weeks of service. The contest also highlights local dynamics in a heavily Democratic Atlanta suburb.
The Associated Press called the special election after 85% of votes were counted, with Marcye Scott at 47.5% and Everton Blair at 36.1%, leaving both short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Republican Caesar Gonzales trailed with about 8.5% of the vote, while other candidates took the remaining share. The outcome will decide who is sworn in to finish the late congressman’s term before January’s full-term winner arrives. For Republicans watching the House math, every shift counts even during short interim stints.
This special election is separate from the regular contest for the full two-year term in January, where Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark won the May primary and will face Republican Jonathan Chavez in November. Blair was the only special-election candidate who also ran in that May primary and finished third there with about 12%. That split in candidacies created an unusual overlap between the temporary vacancy fight and the longer-term campaign for the seat. Voters had to navigate both ballots and different stakes on the same political map.
Marcye Scott announced her special-election bid amid the solemn moments following her father’s funeral, pitching herself as the person best suited to finish his work. “Right after my dad passed, a lot of the City Council or the commissioners and chair people, they wanted to know what was going to happen with these projects,” Scott said following her father’s death, according the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. “And that’s really why I’m running: to complete that.” Her campaign says she helped run his operations, handled constituent outreach and worked on federal funding requests alongside him for more than two decades.
Everton Blair brings a background rooted in local education leadership and academic credentials to the runoff, having been elected to the Gwinnett County Board of Education in 2018 and later serving as board chairman. His campaign highlights a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics, a doctorate in education leadership from Harvard University, and a master’s degree in policy, organization and leadership from Stanford University. Blair’s pitch focuses on education policy and his record on the school board as evidence of practical local experience. That profile appealed to voters concerned about schools and community governance.
The special-election ballot originally listed six names, though one Democrat was disqualified after a qualifying-fee check bounced, and votes for that candidate would not be counted. Remaining candidates included Scott, Blair, attorney Carlos Moore, Fayth Park and Caesar Gonzales. Georgia rules send the top two finishers to an August runoff whenever no one clears 50% on the special ballot. That system forces quick turnarounds and makes turnout patterns in the runoff decisive for the short term.
Control of the House remains razor thin, and the Georgia result shifts the arithmetic even if only briefly. At the time of the race, Republicans held 218 seats, Democrats 212, and there were four vacancies, with one independent caucusing with Republicans. If the Georgia winner is sworn in, Democrats would increase their total by one, tightening the margin Republicans maintain for now. From a Republican point of view, these temporary changes underline how fragile majority control can be and why every seat matters, even for a handful of weeks.
The 13th District covers parts of Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry and Newton counties, plus all of Rockdale County, and it has leaned strongly Democratic in recent cycles. David Scott carried the district with roughly 72% in 2024, and the presidential numbers that year showed a Democratic advantage in the same area. That local tilt makes flipping the seat a steep climb for Republicans, but the runoff will still be watched closely as a snapshot of turnout and enthusiasm ahead of November’s broader contests. Voters head back to the polls on Aug. 25 to decide who finishes the term and who gets that short-lived, consequential voice in Congress.
