Nine of Georgia’s 14 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed up to seek another two-year term Monday on a busy opening day of Qualifying Week at the state Capitol.
But not surprisingly, the only race that doesn’t feature an incumbent drew the most interest. With Republican Rep. Drew Ferguson of West Point leaving office, four Republicans and two Democrats qualified to run for the open 3rd Congressional District seat.
The field for the May 21 GOP primary includes several familiar names. Former state Sens. Mike Dugan of Carrollton and Mike Crane of Newnan qualified on Monday, along with former state Rep. Philip Singleton of Newnan. Retiree Jim Bennett of Carroll County also signed up to seek the seat Ferguson is vacating.
Democratic candidates qualifying in the 3rd District include retired physician Val Almonord of Columbus and Maura Keller of Fayetteville, a nuclear medical technologist.
The incumbent members of Georgia’s congressional delegation who qualified Monday are Reps. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany; Hank Johnson, D-Stone Mountain; Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta; Lucy McBath, D-Marietta; Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee; Austin Scott, R-Tifton; Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville; Rick Allen, R-Augusta; and David Scott, D-Atlanta.
McBath and McCormick essentially are flipping districts in the wake of the new congressional redistricting map the Republican-controlled General Assembly adopted last fall.
McCormick, who currently represents the 6th District, is moving to the 7th District after it was redrawn to take in Republican-friendly turf in Forsyth, Dawson, and Lumpkin counties as well as portions of Cherokee and Hall counties. McBath, now representing the 7th District centered in Gwinnett County, is running in the 6th District, which has been shifted into heavily Democratic central and southern Fulton County, South Cobb, eastern Douglas County, and northern Fayette County.
Non-incumbent candidates qualified Monday in five congressional districts. In the 6th District, Republican Jeff Criswell, a roadside service provider from Cobb County, signed up to challenge McBath. In the 10th District, Democrat Jessica Fore, a realtor-musician from Athens, is looking to challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Jackson.
Business owner Antonio Daza, a Democrat from Woodstock, signed up to take on Loudermilk in the 11th District. Democrat Daniel “DJ” Jackson, a military retiree from Evans, is challenging Allen in the 12th District. And in the 14th District, Democrat Shaun Harris of Cedartown, another military retiree, signed up to face Republican incumbent Marjorie Taylor Greene of Rome.
While there is no U.S. Senate race this year in Georgia, all 14 congressional seats are up for grabs, as are all 236 seats in the state House and Senate. Qualifying continues through noon Friday.
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