Past runoffs in Georgia + upcoming state legislative session
Welcome to the Monday, Dec. 7, Brew.
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- A history of runoffs in Georgia
- Upcoming state legislative sessions
- Voters decide runoff elections for two school board seats in Little Rock, Arkansas
First, a correction: In the Brew on Dec. 3, we presented the win rates of endorsements from noteworthy influencers of 2020. An astute reader pointed out that the calculations in that story were incorrect. The revised figures show that President Trump-endorsed candidates won their elections 77% of the time. We apologize for the error and are grateful for the careful and watchful eyes of our readers. The corrected numbers are as follows:
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A history of runoffs in Georgia
Control of the U.S. Senate depends on the outcome of both runoff elections in Georgia on Jan. 5, 2021. Today, we’re looking at the results of the last two runoffs in the state.
Georgia last held runoff elections for U.S. Senate in 1992 and 2008—both presidential election years. Both years also had runoffs for the statewide office of public service commissioner.
The table below shows vote margins in general elections and runoffs for the two offices, along with percentage changes in turnout and changes in vote margins between the two elections. Data for 1992 and 2008 elections come from FiveThirtyEight, and official results for 2020 come from the Georgia Secretary of State office.
In the Jan. 5, 2021, Georgia runoffs, incumbent David Perdue (R) and Jon Ossoff (D) are the two candidates in the state's regular Senate election for a full six-year term. Perdue was first elected to this seat in 2014.
Incumbent Kelly Loeffler (R) and Raphael Warnock (D) are running for the remaining two years of the six-year term that Johnny Isakson (R) was elected to in 2016. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) appointed Loeffler, and she was sworn in on Jan. 6, 2020.
Today (Dec. 7) is the deadline to register to vote in Georgia's Jan. 5 elections. Eligible voters may vote in the runoff even if they did not vote in the Nov. 3 general elections, as long as they are registered by the deadline.
To stay caught up on the latest on each runoff and the fight for Senate control, click here to subscribe to Ballotpedia’s Runoff Report for updates until control of the U.S. Senate has been determined.
Upcoming state legislative sessions
This week marks another checkpoint in the closing out of the 2020 election cycle, with the final batch of certified election results. The final five states are certifying their results by the end of the week: New York (Dec. 7), Maryland, Missouri, and New Jersey (Dec. 8), and California (Dec. 11). Hawaii does not have a fixed certification deadline, but it’s expected to have results certified by Friday, at which point, all 50 states will be finished with the certification process.
But with the closing of one cycle, another begins. States are beginning or have already begun their 2021 sessions. Maine was the first state to do so—its legislative session began on Dec. 2. California became the second to begin today, Dec. 7. And in January, another 43 states will officially begin.
Four state legislatures—Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas—only meet during odd-numbered years, so they’ll be convening for a regular session for the first time since 2019. The other 46 states hold regular sessions annually.
Voters decide runoff elections for two school board seats in Little Rock, Arkansas
The Little Rock School District will have its first elected board since 2015. All nine seats were on the Nov. 3 ballot, with two of the races advancing to a Dec. 1 runoff.
Evelyn Hemphill Callaway defeated Tommy Branch in the runoff with 67% of the election night vote for the Zone 3 seat. Vicki Hatter defeated FranSha’ Anderson with 59% of the vote for the Zone 6 seat. Callaway and Hatter will join Michael Mason, Sandrekkia Morning, Leigh Ann Wilson, Ali Noland, Norma Johnson, Greg Adams, and Jeff Wood on the newly elected board.
In 2014, U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall approved a settlement that ended 25 years of desegregation funding in three Arkansas school districts. Without the funding, the Little Rock School District was faced with a $37 million deficit. Combined with poor academic performance in six of the district’s schools and two-thirds of its elementary schools, the Arkansas State Board of Education voted 5-4 in 2015 to take control of the school district and dissolve the local board.
The state board of education voted in 2019 to return the school district to local governance following protests calling for a return to a locally elected board.
Here are a couple of other school district examples where the state took over local control:
- In July 2020, the Newark School District in New Jersey regained full local governance following a two-year transition period. The district had been under state control since 1995 due to poor academic performance.
- In April 2019, the Mississippi State Board of Education voted to take control of the Humphreys County and Yazoo City school districts as a result of poor academic ratings.
Ballotpedia covers school board elections in the 200 largest school districts by student enrollment and the school districts that overlap the 100 largest cities by population.
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