2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia
2020-2021 election arising from the resignation of Republican Class III Senator Johnny Isakson
The 2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021 (as a runoff), to elect the Class III member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia. Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated appointed incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler. The first round of the election was held on November 3, 2020; however, no candidate received a majority of the vote, so the top two candidates—Warnock and Loeffler—advanced to a runoff on January 5, 2021, which Warnock won narrowly.
The special election was prompted by the December 2019 resignation of Johnny Isakson. Georgia governor Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler as the interim replacement pending the special election.
Under Georgia law, no primary election took place for the special election; all candidates, regardless of party, were placed on the same ballot (known as a nonpartisan blanket primary, or "jungle primary"), and the election was held on November 3, 2020. Warnock received the most votes with 32.9%, and Loeffler came in second with 25.9%. No candidate received more than 50% of the vote, so the top two candidates advanced to a runoff election on January 5, 2021.
The runoff was held concurrently with the regular Georgia Class II Senate election, in which Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent Republican David Perdue, also in a runoff on January 5. Following the November 3, 2020 Senate elections, Republicans held 50 Senate seats, and the Democratic caucus—46 registered Democrats and two allied independents—had 48.
The public source identifies “2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia” as 2020-2021 election arising from the resignation of Republican Class III Senator Johnny Isakson. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around United, States and Senate.
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