(The Center Square) – Republicans continue to hold a wide majority in the Georgia House of Representatives.
Losing only three seats, Republicans have a 99-80 advantage over Democrats. One independent candidate also won a race, with no challengers.
Going into the election, experts told The Center Square that Democrats were hopeful they win at least 81 seats, which would make for the smallest margin between the parties since Republicans first took control of the House in 2004.
Republicans first took power in Georgia’s Senate in 2002, the same year they took the governor’s seat. That means that since 2004, there has been a Republican trifecta in Georgia’s state government.
Since 2014, when they hit the lowest number of representatives at only 59, Democrats have slowly been closing the gap.
Yet, with few competitive races in the state House, Republicans had no problem maintaining a significant lead. Voters in only 90 of the 180 districts even had a choice between a Democrat or a Republican.
Though there was little shakeup in the party makeup of the House, there were a few notable races.
House District 56 was one of those. Democrat Bryce Berry challenged and defeated Republican incumbent Mesha Mainer with 84% of the vote. Mainer won the seat as a Democrat and changed to the Republican in 2023. The district is metro Atlanta.
Berry had a fundraising edge.
House District 53 was considered the “most flippable” district. Yet, incumbent Republican Rep. Deborah Silcox was reelected after fending off Democratic challenger Susie Greenberg.
Silcox first won the race in 2022 by a margin of less than 1,500 votes after many years of Democrats winning. Greenburg’s fundraising greatly outpaced Silcox’s in her attempt to flip the district, which is located in the Atlanta suburbs.
This time around, Silcox once again won by less than 1,500 votes.
The Republican ran on decreasing crime and taxes, while Greenberg followed the Democratic handbook of prioritizing abortion and gun control.
Districts 149, 48 and 45 were all districts experts flagged as potentially problematic for Republicans, especially after redistricting that was finalized since the last election in 2022.
Republicans won two of those, 48 and 45.
Districts 105 and 108 were both concerning for Democrats. They held District 108, but lost District 105 by just 110 votes.
By Elyse Apel | The Center Square
