WOODBINE, Ga. — Hundreds of Georgians headed to the ballot box to cast their vote in the primary election.
The races include contests for Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State, to name a few.
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With so many candidates running for Governor alone, one voter we spoke with said she had to research some of the candidates because she didn’t know who they were.
“It is very overwhelming the amount of candidates that they have,” said Georgia voter Chaley Henderson Breaux after casting her ballot in the state’s primary election.
For the Gubernatorial race alone, there are 15 candidates people are selecting from.
“We haven’t seen this many high-profile statewide positions open in a generation,” said Dr. Charles Bullock, Political Science Professor at the University of Georgia.
Aside from statewide offices, Georgia voters are also considering candidates for the U.S. Congressional and Senate seats, as well as state legislative hopefuls.
The primary is designed to narrow the field and select both parties’ candidates for the November general election.
Dr. Bullock says the number of candidates vying for the state constitutional offices isn’t surprising given the circumstances.
“Certainly in terms of candidacies, it’s much easier to be able to win if you don’t have to knock off an incumbent. So that’s one of the reasons we’re seeing so many candidates come forward for this primary season,” said Dr. Bullock.
One local U.S. Congressman is trying to earn his party’s nomination to take on incumbent U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff for his seat in November.
Incumbent U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is the sole democratic candidate in this race.
On the Republican side, there are five candidates, including Southeast Georgia U.S. Congressman Buddy Carter.
Dr. Bullock says this race is a must-win if the democrats want to gain control of the Senate.
“Democrats, of course, hope to be able to take control of the Senate. They need to have four seats picked up. If they lost one in Georgia, they’d need five, which would be impossible for them,” said Dr. Bullock.
However, Dr. Bullock notes that with most of the media attention being centered on the gubernatorial race, the republican senate candidates aren’t getting as much publicity.
“You see so many more ads for the Gubernatorial contest that, unless you’re really paying attention, you may be tuning all of this out. So it’s making it harder for Carter as well as the other two serious Republican candidates for the Senate to simply get attention,” said Dr. Bullock.
Dr. Bullock says that, for Congressman Carter specifically, an issue he faces is that he represents coastal Georgia.
“60% or more of the vote is going to be cast in the metro Atlanta area. Carter, coming from this Savannah area, doesn’t get much coverage in Atlanta television,” said Dr. Bullock.
In Georgia, if no candidate receives a majority of the votes, that race will go to a runoff election, which will be held on June 19th.
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