Gwinnett Votes: Balfour Ousted, Runoffs in U.S. House and Senate

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State Sen. Don Balfour (R) lost in his bid for re-election in District 9 in Tuesday’s primary, with his two opponents headed for a runoff.

Balfour, of Snellville, who had been in the Georgia Senate for 22 years, finished behind Mike Beaudreau and P.K Martin. Beaudreau finished with 38.22 percent of the vote, Martin with 33.15 and Balfour with 28.63.

Beaudreau and Martin will meet in a runoff in July to see who’ll face Democrat Timothy Swiney in the November general election.

According to results on the Secretary of State’s website, turnout in Gwinnett was around 14 percent.

In other Gwinnett-related races:

• Republicans Jack Kingston and David Perdue will meet in a runoff for U.S. Senate, after finishing 1-2 in the nine-person race Tuesday.
• Jody Hice and Mike Collins will meet in the Republican runoff for U.S. House District 10 after finishing at the top of the seven-person race.
• Incumbent John Heard beat Alfie Meek in the Gwinnett Board of Commissioners District 4 Republican primary, drawing 57 percent of the vote. It was the only contested race on the board.
• In  the Gwinnett Board of Education, Dan Seckinger easily won the District 2 GOP vote over Leon Hobbs and Ileana McCaigue. Seckinger won 63 percent of the vote.
• Renita Hamilton beat Tim Hur in the State Senate District 105 Democrat vote.
• Mike Brown scored 60 percent of the vote in the State Senate District 98 Republican race.
• Brooks Coleman avoided a Republican runoff in the race for state representative in District 97, beating Jef Fincher and Dahlys Hamilton.
• Gloria Butler easily won the Democratic nomination in State Senate District 55.
• Democrat Tamara Johnson and Republican Fran Millar won Tuesday to meet in the State Senate District 40 race in November.
• U.S. Rep Hank Johnson (D) held off Tom Brown in U.S House District 4, winning with 54 percent of the vote.

For more on the Gwinnett vote, click here