Blair Wins Georgia Special Election, Defeating Scott's Daughter by 8 Points
The result fills the late Rep. David Scott's seat with a candidate from outside the Scott family, testing whether incumbency legacy transfers in low-turnout special elections.
Everton Blair Jr., former chairman of the Gwinnett County School Board, won the special election runoff for Georgia's 13th Congressional District seat on August 26, 2026, defeating Marcye Scott by 8 percentage points and 1,448 votes, according to the Washington Examiner.
The seat became vacant following the death of Rep. David Scott (D-GA), who had represented the district since 2003, according to congressional records maintained by the House Clerk's office. Scott had won reelection to the seat nine consecutive times before his death.
Blair and Marcye Scott advanced to the August runoff after a July 28 primary in which the two Democratic candidates together captured approximately 84 percent of the total vote, per the Washington Examiner report. Republican candidates in the July contest did not advance to the runoff, reflecting the partisan composition of the district.
Georgia's 13th Congressional District, which covers portions of suburban Atlanta including parts of Fulton, Douglas, and Cobb counties, has voted Democratic in every presidential election since its current boundaries were established following the 2010 redistricting cycle, according to Georgia Secretary of State election records.
Blair's win adds one seat to the Democratic column in the U.S. House. The precise partisan balance of the current Congress following this result was not confirmed in the source material reviewed for this report. The House Clerk's office maintains the official tally of seated members.
The runoff structure used in Georgia requires a separate election when no candidate clears a majority threshold in the initial special election. Georgia state law governs this process under Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. Blair's advance to that runoff came alongside Marcye Scott, meaning the general contest was decided entirely between two Democrats.
Blair's background on the Gwinnett County School Board placed him in elected office before this race, though the Washington Examiner report does not detail the length of his tenure on that board. Gwinnett County is one of the most populous counties in Georgia, with a recorded population of approximately 975,000 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
Marcye Scott's candidacy drew attention partly because of her family connection to the late representative. Whether the Scott family name provided an electoral advantage or disadvantage in the initial primary, or in the runoff, is not quantifiable from the source material alone. Precinct-level results from the Georgia Secretary of State's office would allow a geographic analysis of where each candidate drew support.
No Republican will occupy the seat following the special election, based on the source material indicating Republican candidates did not advance past the July 28 primary. It is unknown whether Blair has made any public statements on specific legislative priorities since his win, and no committee assignments have been reported at the time of publication. The House Clerk's office would record his swearing-in date and initial committee assignments once he is seated.
The margin of 1,448 votes in an 8-point spread implies a total vote count in the range of approximately 18,000 ballots cast in the runoff, though the exact turnout figure was not specified in the available source material. The Georgia Secretary of State's certified results would provide the official vote totals.