Everton Blair defeats late Rep. Scott’s daughter in Georgia special election
Democrat becomes first openly gay man elected to Congress from Georgia
Everton Blair has won the special election to succeed the late Democratic Rep. David Scott, becoming the first openly gay man elected to Congress from Georgia.
With more than 95 percent of votes counted, Blair, a former chair of the Gwinnett County school board, was leading fellow Democrat Marcye Scott, the late congressman’s daughter, 53 percent to 47 percent, according to The Associated Press.
Blair is now poised to serve out the remainder of Scott’s term, representing Georgia’s 13th District through January. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the regular May Democratic primary for the suburban Atlanta seat, which was won by state Rep. Jasmine Clark.
The seat has been vacant since Scott’s death in April. Gov. Brian Kemp called an all-party special election for July 28, in which Marcye Scott finished first with 46 percent of the vote. But with no candidate winning a majority, the stage was set for a run-off between Scott and Blair, who took second place last month with 37 percent.
Running as a progressive, Blair drew the support of Georgia Rep. Lucy McBath, the Bernie Sanders-founded group Our Revolution and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. The son of Jamaican immigrants, he was a high school math teacher before he became the first Black person elected to the Gwinnett County Board of Education in 2018. He briefly ran for Georgia state school superintendent four years later.
Scott was hoping to become the second daughter to succeed her father in the 119th Congress, following Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva’s victory in a special election last year for the late Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva’s seat. Scott had the support of Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams and former United Nations Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, also a former congressman.
Blair’s victory comes a week after California state Sen. Aisha Wahab won a special election for the state’s 14th District to succeed former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned in April amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Blair and Wahab are expected to be sworn in after the House returns from its August recess next week, further cutting into Republicans’ narrow majority in the chamber.
There are two other vacancies in the House, but to date, no special elections have been announced to replace Texas Republican Tony Gonzales and Florida Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who both resigned in April.
