The 2026 Georgia primary elections took place on Tuesday, and the results signal a level of change in the Peach State. Black woman Keisha Lance Bottoms will represent the Democrats in November, Tanya Miller will be facing off with a Republican opponent for the right to be called the state’s attorney general, and a former judge will compete in a one-on-one election for the Democratic nod for secretary of state.
Judge Penny Brown Reynolds hugged one partygoer and danced with another. The watch party for her campaign for the Democratic Party’s nomination for the Secretary of State was underway at her home, and at 9 p.m., two hours after most polls closed, her lead over fellow candidate Dana Barrett was by more than 40,000 votes (208,174-165,198). Less than 50% of the votes had been counted at that point, but the expectation of qualifying for a runoff, which would take place from Monday, June 8, to Friday, June 12, was in hand. At 10 p.m., Brown Reynolds’ lead grew to over 50,000 votes, but the percentages were still hovering around 43%, not enough to take the election outright.
“I feel very grateful and very hopeful. I won it. Now we just have to finish it,” said Brown Reynolds in her backyard following the recognition that a runoff was on the way.
Fellow Democratic candidates Cam Ashling and Adrian Consonery, Jr. took up 23% of the vote, virtually guaranteeing a runoff before the complete election results were in.
The Republican side of the election for secretary of state will also require a runoff. And another Black candidate will be involved. Vernon Jones and Tim Fleming shared the majority of the votes on Tuesday. At 11 p.m., Fleming held 39% of the votes, while Jones, a serial candidate for many top political seats, had nearly 30%. Kelvin King, a veteran of the United States Air Force and business owner, finished third with nearly 16% of the vote after running a successful grassroots campaign.
On the changes taking place within this election, Brown Reynolds, who never held a statewide office, said, “We’re moving to a place where we have to bring Georgia together,” she said. “I’m very pleased with that.”
Earlier that day, Patsy Thompson, 80, was wheeled out of the polling station at the C.T. Martin Natatorium & Recreation Center in Southwest Atlanta. The lifelong Atlanta resident just finished voting and was waiting on the curb for her ride to arrive.
Asked why she believes it’s so important to vote, even after more than six decades of doing so, Thompson said, “Because I’m used to voting. That’s why I go every year.”
Just a few feet from Thompson, Former Atlanta Mayor, State Representative, and Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young, 94, had just finished voting.
Barbara Landers, 87, looked on from a shady spot near the entrance. The C.T. Martin Rec Center isn’t her polling place, so the staffers gave her the right address to a polling station a mile away. She was on her way there when she stopped to speak with The Atlanta Voice about the importance of voting in every election.
“It’s important to vote because I don’t like what’s going on,” she said. “They’re giving us senior citizens a hard time.”
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