Brian Kemp or David Perdue? Georgia may be en route to runoff elections

Governor Brian Kemp will be going against former Senator David Perdue in the upcoming Republican primaries elections in Georgia. The two will be fighting for the governor’s office, however, the polls may not be conclusive and trigger a runoff election.

Georgia, a key swing state, is set to see a tight race between the two contenders. Brian Kemp, the incumbent, has been backed by former US Vice President Mike Pence. On the other hand, David Perdue is being supported by former President Trump.

The runoff conundrum in Georgia 

According to reports from Politico that cite Georgia’s electoral laws, the upcoming election will remain inconclusive if any of the candidates fail to secure a majority, or more than 50% of the votes.

In such a case, runoff elections will be triggered between the top two candidates. If required, Georgia’s primary runoff elections will be held in June this year. This would make sure there is enough gap between GOP declaring its candidate for Georgia’s governor’s office and the midterm elections in November.

Has Georgia previously conducted runoff elections?

Yes. The most recent one happened in January 2021, after the general US Senate elections failed to determine a winner. Democrat Jon Ossoff beat Perdue, who was the incumbent Senator from Georgia. The crucial runoff elections in Georgia last year helped the Democratic party gain a thin majority in the Senate.

A Fox News poll recently found that Brian Kemp was leading the race against David Perdue by 32 points. The numbers suggest a complete flip in estimates, which suggested that Perdue may win the primary elections.

So far, more than 600,000 voters have already cast their ballots for the May 24 elections. Of those more than 600,000, over 567,000 voted in person and 47,500 voted by absentee mail-in ballots, New York Times reported.