ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal will serve a second term after overcoming a challenge from Democrat Jason Carter, a state senator from Atlanta and grandson of former President Jimmy Carter.
Democrats had seen an opportunity for growth in this Republican stronghold with increases in the state’s black population, historically a reliably Democratic bloc. But Republicans were confident their base and swing voters would turn out for the sitting governor, who regularly touted the state’s No. 1 rating by business publications and his administration’s criminal justice work.
Unofficial returns tabulated by The Associated Press showed Deal with a commanding lead over Carter.
Libertarian Andrew Hunt, the former CEO of an Atlanta nanotechnology firm, also was on Tuesday’s ballot.
Deal told reporters just before polls closed that he was confident in a full-stop victory while touring the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, where Georgia Republicans plan to watch vote totals come in.