East Cobb legislative incumbents, McBath win re-election

Kay Kirkpatrick, East Cobb city map — *State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick has won a second full term.*

Although some of them got a scare—including one of the state’s most influential lawmakers—all members of East Cobb’s legislative contingent were re-elected this week.

In the race targeted as part of an effort to flip party control of the state house to the Democrats, Republican Rep. Sharon Cooper appears to have pulled out another close re-election battle over Democrat Luisa Wakeman.

As of Saturday morning, Cooper leads Wakeman by 481 votes, with the final absentee and provisional ballots still being counted.

It’s not clear how many there are, and how many may be in District 43, which includes part of East Cobb and some of Sandy Springs.

It’s the district Cooper has represented since 1997, and she serves as the Chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee.

While Cooper claimed victory on Wednesday, Wakeman initially did not concede. On Friday, she acknowledged that “it appears as if we will fall just short.” She congratulated Cooper and said “I was so encouraged to see you campaign on funding schools and expanding Medicaid for women in need of maternal care. My hope is that you will use this term in office to continue advancing these progressive causes. Georgia is counting on you.”

The Cooper-Wakeman rematch was one of the key races Democrats were targeting in a high-stakes, and high-spending election.

The candidates raised more than $500,000 combined, but Democrats have flipped only one of the 16 seats they needed to win to end Republican control.

State House results

District 37

Mary Frances Williams (D, incumbent): 15,931 (54%)
Rose Wing (R): 13,591 (46%)

District 43

Sharon Cooper (R, incumbent): 15,920 (50.7%)
Luisa Wakeman (D): 15,439 (49.2%)

District 44

Don Parsons (R, incumbent): 16,978 (51.8%)
Connie DiCicco (D): 15,606 (48%)

District 45

Matt Dollar (R, incumbent): 19,273 (54.8%)
Sara Tindall Ghazal (D): 15,902 (45.2%)

District 46

John Carson (R, incumbent): 21,680 (61.5%)
Caroline Holko (D): 15,583 (38.5%)

In the Georgia State Senate District 32 race, Republican incumbent Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick was facing Democrat Christine Triebsch for the third time in four years.

They first met in a 2017 special election to succeed former Sen. Judson Hill. Kirkpatrick earned a first full term in 2018, and on Tuesday the early results were close.

But Kirkpatrick earned a comfortable victory to retain the seat that includes most of East Cobb and some of Sandy Springs.

District 32

Kay Kirkpatrick (R, incumbent): 63,221 (56%)
Christine Triebsch (D): 49,859 (44%)

U.S. Rep Lucy McBath, gun violence research funding, McBath border-funding vote — *U.S. Rep Lucy McBath is going back to Washington for a second term.*

The 6th Congressional District race was also a rematch, as Republican former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel was trying to reclaim the seat from Democrat Lucy McBath, who won in a 2018 cliffhanger.

McBath has been the first Democrat to hold the seat in 40 years, and it was targeted by national Republicans in their bid to win back control of the House.

While the GOP did flip some House seats, Democrats will maintain their majority and their ranks will include McBath, who claimed her re-election thanks to strong results in the Fulton and DeKalb portions of the district.

Handel won the East Cobb area, as she did in 2018, but only with 51 percent of the vote there.

Lucy McBath (D, incumbent): 215,680 (54.6%)
Karen Handel (R): 179,398 (45.4%)

For full results of these races, click here.

East Cobb legislative incumbents, McBath win re-election