Election 2014: Perdue Beats Kingston in GOP Runoff

Republicans picked a political newcomer over a longtime officer-holder by a narrow margin in Tuesday’s runoff elections in Georgia.

David Perdue, the former CEO of Dollar General, beat Jack Kingston to move on to the November general election and face Democrat Michelle Nunn, who also is seeking her first elected office.

Perdue’s margin of victory was small — the George Secretary of State elections webpage had the margin at less than 2 percent with 99 percent of the vote counted as of midnight. Kingston, an 11-term Congressman from Savannah, conceded the election before 11 p.m., the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

While Kingston won nearly 90-percent support in his home county of Chatham, Perdue made up the difference by winning metro Atlanta counties, according to CBS News.

The November election for Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ former seat will come down to two candidates with political bloodlines. Nunn is the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn; Perdue is a cousin of former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The race wasn’t the only close statewide race Tuesday.

The Republican runoff for State School Superintendent between Mike Buck and Richard Woods was neck-and-neck from the moment polls closed at 7 p.m. As of midnight, Richard Woods held less than a 1-percent lead over Mike Buck. Woods had 199,071 votes; Buck had 198,343. For an update, click here.

The winner will likely face Valarie Wilson, who had an 8-point lead over Alisha Thomas Morgan in the Democrat runoff.

In other runoffs Tuesday with metro-Atlanta interest (all Republican races):

U.S Representative, District 11: Barry Loudermilk routed former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr by more than 30 percentage points. The district includes parts of Bartow, Cobb, Cherokee and Fulton counties.

U.S Representative, District 10: Jody Hice soundly beat Mike Collins to represent the GOP in the large geographic district that spans from Gwinnett County to the South Carolina border, and includes Barrow, Oconee, Clarke and Walton counties. Hice had 54 percent of the vote at midnight.

State Senate, District 9: P.K. Martin held off Mike Beaudreau for the Republican nomination in State Senate, District 9 (Gwinnett County), where both men easily beat incumbent Donald Balfour in the May primary.

State Senate, District 27: Incumbent Jack Murphy lost to Michael Williams by a 2-to-1 margin. The district covers Forsyth County.

State Representative, District 22: Wes Cantrell easily beat Meagan Biello with 69 percent of the vote in a district that serves parts of Cherokee, Forsyth and Fulton counties

State Representative, District 54: Beth Beskin had 84 percent of the vote in the Fulton County district to beat John McCloskey.

For more results, visit the George Secretary of State elections page