GOP’s Dickerson wins state Senate runoff

Republican Jason Dickerson appears to have bested his Democratic opponent, Debra Shigley, in the special runoff election for a state Senate seat.

The contest for the Dist. 21 Georgia Senate seat attracted national attention after Shigley’s surprising first-place finish last month.

However, as of 10:10 p.m. on Tuesday night, Dickerson had 61 percent of the vote (19.061) to Shigley’s 38 percent (11,950).

Click here to see the latest results via the Georgia Secretary of State’s website and Enhanced Voting.

Shigley, the lone Democrat in the race, won 40% of the vote last month in the first round of voting. Dickerson won 17.4% of the vote. A candidate must claim 50% of the vote to win in Georgia.

The race went from a seven-way contest to a head-to-head matchup.

The special election was called after former state Sen. Brandon Beach, an Alpharetta Republican and staunch ally of President Donald Trump, was appointed to serve as U.S. treasurer.

The district, which includes north Fulton and Cherokee counties, reelected Beach with 70% of the vote just last year. That’s why Shigley’s 40% vote tally – which was 10 percentage points better than Beach’s Democratic opponent did less than a year ago – turned heads.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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