Democrat LeMario Brown and Republican Steven McNeel were the top two vote-getters during the special election for Senate District 18, according to unofficial results from the secretary of state’s website. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Two candidates vying to represent a Macon-area Senate district are headed to a runoff after neither managed to clear the 50% threshold in a six-way race Tuesday.
Democrat LeMario Brown, a Peach County small business owner, farmer and former city council member, and Republican Steven McNeel, a Bibb County attorney, appear to be the top two vote-getters after the polls closed on Tuesday night, according to unofficial results from the secretary of state’s website. The other candidates, all Republicans, include former Forsyth Mayor Eric Wilson, former state Rep. Lauren Daniel, Army veteran Nathan Warnock and retired factory worker Eugene Allison.
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The district encompasses Crawford, Monroe, Peach and Upson counties, as well as part of Bibb and Houston counties.
Brown and McNeel are seeking to replace former state Sen. John F. Kennedy, a Macon Republican and the former President Pro Tem who has represented the district since 2014. Kennedy resigned in December to focus on his bid for lieutenant governor.
The two candidates will face off again in a Feb. 17 runoff. The winner will serve an abbreviated term, assuming office roughly half of the way through this year’s legislative session, which began earlier this month and will end April 2. All members of the state Legislature will be up for re-election later this year.
In a statement, Brown vowed to keep working to flip the district blue.
“Our vision of a more affordable Georgia, where small businesses thrive, and healthcare access is available to all could be in reach if we all show up to the polls,” he said. “The finish line is close and we will not stop fighting until Senate District 18 has a strong leader under the Gold Dome.”
McNeel did not respond to multiple requests for comment Tuesday night. Wilson, who appeared to come in third place, said he was disappointed in the results but respected the will of the voters in his district.
“We laid our message out there about affordability and cost of living, and that’s really what we focused on in this campaign,” Wilson said.
The Georgia Republican Party celebrated the advancement of a Republican to the runoff, noting that the party worked with leaders in the state Senate and district-level Republican organizations to drive up voter turnout.
“Republicans stepped up, overcame the noise, and now we’re heading into the runoff ready for the final round,” said Josh McKoon, the state GOP party chair.
The race also attracted attention from national Democrats, with U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona joining Brown on the campaign trail over the weekend. Georgia Democratic leadership also cheered Brown’s first-place finish.
“The voters of Senate District 18 have sent a clear message that Georgia’s Republican leadership is not meeting the needs of working Georgians,” Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones of Augusta said in a statement. “LeMario Brown will keep fighting to bring costs down and quality of life up for the people of this district.”
At least one other Senate seat will sit empty for the time being after State Sen. Colton Moore, a Trenton Republican, resigned from his seat representing Senate District 53 to run for Congress. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp scheduled the election to fill his seat for March 10.
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