Fellow Democrats:
After Tom Price’s confirmation by the United States Senate as the new Health and Human Services Secretary, Governor Deal called a special election for the open seat in the 6th Congressional District. This seat covers parts of Northeast Cobb, North Fulton and North DeKalb.
Qualifying for the seat opened on February 13th and closed at 1:00PM on the 15th of February. Candidates did not qualify with their political parties, but rather with the Secretary of State directly.
Numerous candidates have qualified— 11 Republicans, 5 Democrats and 2 Independents. To qualify, candidates had to file official paperwork with the state and pay a fee of $5,220 to the Secretary of State to appear on the ballot.
You can see who the candidates at the Secretary of State’s webpage here: http://elections.sos.ga.gov/GAElection/CandidateDetails
Simply select the year 2017 on the drop down menu for “Year,” and the April 18th Special Federal Election in the second drop down menu called “Election.” Then hit the red button called “Qualified Candidates” and you will see a list of everyone along with their contact information.
Important Dates:
March 20, 2017 is the last day to register to vote for all persons who live in the district.
March 27, 2017 marks the first day of early vote.
April 18th, 2017 is Election Day. Polls will be open in the district from 7:00AM to 7:00PM.
A candidate must achieve at least 50% plus 1 of the vote in order to avoid a run-off. If no candidate receives that share of the votes, then a run-off election between the top two vote getters will commence on:
June 20, 2017— date of run-off election.
The district has historically been dominated by Republicans— which was by design as the Republicans drew the map for this district after the last census. However, last November’s election showed real promise for a competitive seat as Donald Trump only narrowly bested Hillary Clinton in total votes.
It will be imperative that Democrats register to vote if they are not already registered, and turn out to vote in this election— both on the 18th of April and, in all probability, for the June 20th run-off election. Voter registration info and more can be found at this link.
Volunteers are needed to ensure that every Democrat knows how and when to vote in this election. If you are interested in volunteering for the Democratic Party of Georgia, please reach out to Chrystian Woods, the Director of Organizing and Outreach at [email protected]
You can also reach out directly to the campaigns themselves to advocate on behalf of a specific candidate.
Thank you,
Rebecca DeHart
Executive Director