Two Republicans won seats in the Georgia House in special election runoffs held Tuesday after no candidates won majorities in an earlier round of voting.
Toombs County Republican Party Chairman Leesa Hagan of Lyons beat auto dealer Wally Sapp of Baxley in House District 156, according to final, unofficial results. The district covers all of Montgomery and Toombs counties and parts of Appling and Jefferson Davis counties in southeast Georgia. Democrat Wright Gres of Baxley finished third and was eliminated in the earlier June 15 vote.
We are proud of Priscilla Smith for the campaign she ran and proud of #HD34 voters. While the Georgia GOP’s spin factory kicks into high gear, they continue running scared of the voters of color across the state who defeated them last November and again in January. #gapol
— Fair Fight (@fairfightaction) July 14, 2021
Hagan will replace Republican Greg Morris of Vidalia, who resigned after fellow lawmakers elected him to the state Transportation Board.
In House District 34, which covers parts of Kennesaw and Marietta in Cobb County, Republican ambulance company executive Devan Seabaugh of Marietta defeated Democratic artist and educator Priscilla Smith of Kennesaw. Three other candidates ran in the initial round of voting on June 15.
In the first accessible, secure election under Georgia’s Election Integrity Act, Fair Fight struck out against our lineup of economic opportunity, quality healthcare and lower taxes. The real all-stars were the voters of Cobb County who elected Republican @DevanSeabaugh tonight.
— Speaker David Ralston (@SpeakerRalston) July 14, 2021
Seabaugh replaces Republican Bert Reeves, who resigned to go to work for Georgia Tech. Despite the district’s Republican lean, both parties showed interest in the outcome in a rehearsal for 2022, when all 236 state House and Senate seats will be up for election.
