Voters elect member to fill 13th Congressional District vacancy

With approximately four months remaining of late Rep. David Scott’s seat to fill before the general election in November, Georgia voters recently elected Everton Blair to carry out the term.

Results from the runoff election held Aug. 27 and posted onto the Georgia Secretary of State’s website show that Blair gained approximately 54 percent of ballots cast, defeating David Scott’s daughter Marcye Scott for the 13th Congressional District post, which includes parts of DeKalb County.

“I’m humbled by the trust you placed in me to carry the torch forward,” Blair said of his win after the runoff election. “It will be the honor of my life to serve you in Congress. And I’m ready to get to work.”

According to officials with democrats.org, Blair is making history with his win as the first Black, openly gay member of Congress ever elected from the South.

The election to succeed Scott for a full two-year term will be held in November, when state Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, will go up against Republican Jonathan Chavez.

David Scott, who died in April at the age of 80, had represented the 13th Congressional District for nearly a quarter century, covering much of the area south and east of Atlanta.

For more information and complete runoff election results, visit https://sos.ga.gov/page/georgia-election-results.

Ty Tagami with Capitol Beat contributed to this article.