Gov. Brian Kemp Monday called a special election for Sept. 29 to fill the remainder of U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ term following the civil rights icon’s death earlier this month.
Required by state law, the special election will only apply through the end of this year. The general election on Nov. 3 will decide who serves the next full term representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, a seat Lewis held for decades.
A runoff for the special election would be held on Dec. 1, if needed.
Georgia Democratic Party leaders last week picked state Sen. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, to replace Lewis on the Nov. 3 ballot after the longtime congressman won the primary in June. She faces Republican Angela Stanton King.
Lewis, a prominent civil rights leader who was beaten by police in Selma, Ala., during a protest march in 1965, served 33 years in Congress before his death at age 80 following a seven-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
He was poised to defend his seat for an 18th consecutive term prior to his death on July 17, which sparked a complicated and quick-moving process for state Democrats to pick his replacement to square off against King rather than let Republicans claim the reliably blue district.
Kemp, a Republican, announced the Sept. 29 special election as Lewis’ casket lay in state at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Monday. His casket is scheduled to lie in state at the Georgia Capitol on Wednesday, followed by a funeral service in Atlanta on Thursday.
Williams, who currently chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia, has touted her background as an activist and tested lawmaker, casting herself in the mold of Lewis as a fighter who will push for voting rights. She was elected to the Georgia Senate in 2017.
The 39th District state Senate seat Williams held will also require a special election to pick a Democratic nominee to replace her on the Nov. 3 ballot. That contest will decide the seat since no Republican nominee is on the ballot.
