The Republican Party appears to have retained power of two statewide offices in the Dec. 4 runoff election, winning the secretary of state office and holding onto a seat on the Public Service Commission, according to unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State Election Office.
Republican Brad Raffensperger appears to have defeated Democrat John Barrow as secretary of state with nearly 52 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. Former secretary of state Brian Kemp narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in last month’s governor’s race, leading to the open seat.
Republican Chuck Eaton of Buckhead appears to have held on to his District 3 seat on the PSC, which regulates public utilities, by beating Democrat Lindy Miller with nearly 52 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. District 3 of the PSC represents Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton and Rockdale counties.
Votes cast on Dec. 4 in Gwinnett, DeKalb, Fulton and Cobb counties were still being counted late into Tuesday night.
There are also still thousands of absentee votes to be counted if postmarked by Dec. 4 and received by Dec. 7. State Democrats filed a federal lawsuit alleging that voters were being disenfranchised after many counties sent out absentee ballots to voters late. Interim Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden and the state Democrats entered into a consent order to allow absentee ballots that come into county elections office by the end of this week be counted.
Voting time was extended from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Life Center Church Ministries on Mount Vernon Road in the Sandy Springs panhandle after “the poll manager misplaced supplies, which in turn halted voting for one hour while awaiting additional supplies,” according to a Fulton County press release.
Democrats Barrow and Miller both conceded on Dec. 5.
This story has been updated.