Polls close in Georgia as voters decide successor in special election

The polls have closed in Georgia as two races in politically disparate parts of the country set the stage for one of the most unusual split-screen election days of the year on Tuesday.

Rep. David Scott’s death in April at age 80 created a vacancy in a heavily blue district encompassing the southern and eastern Atlanta suburbs of Stockbridge, Conyers and Snellville.

With the general election ballot already decided, Tuesday’s contest will determine who will finish out Scott’s term. Scott was notably related by marriage to Braves slugger Hank Aaron.

Across the country in South Dakota, Republicans vying for the Mount Rushmore State’s safely red governor’s seat have created the state’s first gubernatorial runoff between incumbent Gov. Larry Rhoden and self-made millionaire bitcoin investor Toby Doeden.

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Rhoden originally took the reins in Pierre after President Donald Trump chose former Gov. Kristi Noem to be Homeland Security secretary in his second term. He was unable to garner enough support in the June primary to secure the nomination outright in his first statewide election as governor.

South Dakota’s runoff is expected to be a classic establishment-versus-outsider race, with Rhoden heavily favored in the polls but Doeden hoping for a Sioux Falls-fueled upset.

Minnehaha County, home to Sioux Falls, is a key county to watch Tuesday after helping propel Doeden to a first-place finish in the June primary.

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Pennington County, on the state’s western side, will also be closely watched after contributing to Doeden’s top finish in June.

In contrast to what is expected in Scott’s district in November, Republicans are heavily favored because South Dakota has not elected a Democratic governor since the 1970s.

Then-Gov. Richard Kneip served nearly two terms before President Jimmy Carter nominated him as ambassador to Singapore. Gov. Harvey Wollman completed the final six months of Kneip’s term, and is the state’s last Democrat to hold the office.

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Shifting back to the Deep South, Georgia Democrats are expected to hold Scott’s seat in the fall by a wide margin.

Efforts to replace Scott grew in recent months, particularly among the party’s progressive wing, as the 12-term, often-combative lawmaker drew increasing frustration from Democrats.

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Last year, Scott made waves in Washington media when he shouted expletives at a Politico photographer as he was wheeled through the Capitol by staff.

“Who gave you the right to take my picture, a–hole,” Scott shouted at photographer Francis Chung in late 2025.

That demeanor was similar to what led Everton Blair to launch his primary bid against Scott, in what his campaign page calls a “voice for a new generation.”

Blair previously told Fox News Digital it was a run-in with Scott at a Gwinnett County town hall, where the lawmaker gave insufficient answers to questions and then reportedly became confrontational, that led him to explore a bid.

Blair had said he would “love to just hear a little bit more of the congressional and legislative strategy, congressman, that you have for this administration, particularly as it pertains to safeguarding federal funds,” according to Semafor, when Scott replied “hold on,” before becoming agitated:

“I don’t know who sent y’all, but we got these folks here who are providing answers. And I’m doing this. That’s what I’m doing,” Scott said, according to the outlet.

Blair responded by launching a primary bid, while remarking to Fox News Digital at the time that two other elderly Democratic members had recently died in office “at a time when every vote counts.”

The wave of millennial candidates seeking to replace aging Democrats was at the time dubbed the “Biden effect” — Democratic lawmakers retiring or facing potential primary challenges following the octogenarian Delawarean’s disastrous debate performance, which led to his decision to step aside for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

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“Change can’t wait, and Democrats need a new bench of leaders who are committed to solving real problems for working people,” Blair said in a previous press release.

Meanwhile, Scott’s daughter is hoping to replace her late father in Congress, remarking that she wants to continue his legacy.

“That is my thing, is to finish out his year strongly, make sure that this money gets down to the district, and just make sure the 13th district is taken care of, constituency-wise, and making sure the projects go into finalization,” she told the Georgia Recorder, while adding she would retain her father’s staff locally and at the Capitol for added stability.

“[W]hen he first got into politics, I wasn’t even born, so I ran for some type of office or campaign every two years of my life, so this is just my norm, I’m just picking up where we left off with him,” she told the outlet.

A third candidate, former Mississippi judge Carlos Moore, also criticized Rep. Scott’s tenure, telling the Mississippi Free Press he wants to be a “leader who actually shows up.”

Moore had been suspended from the bench for one year in 2024 after a bar tribunal found he mishandled a wrongful death settlement, according to the outlet.

When asked by the press about the infraction, he pointed to Trump’s 34-count indictment in New York. He also pledged, if elected, to be a leader who understands “how to defend our democracy and Constitution” from the president.

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The winner of Tuesday’s special elections will serve only until January.

Georgia state Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Tucker, won the Democratic nomination for the full term earlier this year and is heavily favored against Republican Air Force veteran Jonathan Chavez in November. Trump lost the district by about 43 points in 2024.