Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 02/20/2026 7:27:16 AM PST by qam1
Georgia Senate Republicans are set to expand their majority after attorney Steven McNeel won Tuesday's special election runoff in Senate District 18, defeating Democrat LeMario Nicholas Brown in a closely watched Macon-area race.
According to unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, McNeel secured 59.42% of the vote, with 14,998 ballots cast in his favor. Brown received 40.58%, totaling 10,244 votes.
McNeel will represent the Macon-based district, which includes Crawford, Monroe, Peach, and Upson counties, along with portions of Bibb and Houston counties.
The seat became vacant after former Sen. John Kennedy resigned last year to prepare to run for Georgia lieutenant governor. Six candidates competed in the Jan. 20 special election, but none received more than 50% of the vote, triggering Tuesday's runoff.
The race drew attention from top Republican leaders eager to maintain control of the seat. On Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp urged voters on social media to support McNeel, writing: "Polls are now open in Senate District 18. Make a plan to vote today for conservative Republican Steven McNeel. We cannot afford to let the Democrats flip this seat and push the same agenda that boosted crime and inflation."
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones also celebrated the outcome online, posting: "SD18 delivered. Congratulations to Steven McNeel for State Senate on his victory tonight — when Republicans show up, we win. Looking forward to working together to deliver for Georgia!"
McNeel campaigned on a conservative platform that included cutting taxes, reducing government spending, supporting school choice, backing law enforcement, protecting Second Amendment rights and supporting President Donald Trump's immigration policies. He also emphasized support for Georgia farmers and agribusinesses.
Brown, a farmer and small business owner who previously served as a Fort Valley city councilman and mayor pro tem, ran on a platform focused on lowering the cost of living, expanding access to health care and improving public safety. Democrats had hoped the race would help build momentum in central Georgia, but Republicans held the seat.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Hmmm, I wonder why I haven't heard about this in the media as some harbinger of things to come
Good sign for the Senate race.
The cars full of ballots stuck in traffic ? LOL
The spotlight on the GA cheating is having an effect. Ratburger better watch his rear view mirror
Glad he won. Only 24,000 people cast ballots, yet the city of Macon alone holds 157,000 people as of 2024; proportion of adults unknown. Macon is 55% blacks, 34% whites, 5% Hispanics, 6% others, according to city-data.com. Would be interesting to know how he did in each group, as to whether he has a representational mandate.
Because this was just one Republican replacing another (who resigned last year), with the newly-elected Republican winning by 19 points in a district which usually goes GOP by about 24 points and hasn’t elected a Democrat since the 1990s?
Profile of Georgia State Senate District 18
The city of Macon is in the 26th Senate District, which is therefore heavily Democrat.
Does it usually go that was in special elections? Comparing general elections to special elections is like comparing apples to oranges.
“Comparing general elections to special elections is like comparing apples to oranges.”
The last special election in this district was in 24 years ago (and a Democrat won that time), if you want a truly irrelevant “apples to oranges” comparison.
Near zero attention from the local democrat party liner newspaper in Cobb County. (We do not get the AJC - Atlanta’s Urinal Constipation.) Has not been discussed in Atlanta-area radio stations either.
A bloodletting. Had 50% more votes than the dem.
Very red district.
TV ANF Atlanta News First is a total disappointment. It is 80% commercials for itself, 15% weather and only 5% sports, business, politics and other “news”.
Another one? :)
Why do I have to read this on free republic and not a word from the main stream media? If the democrat had won, it would be front page news.
Yes we know
But every time a Dem wins a Special / Off-Year Election somewhere (even in a Blue District) it makes national news, and the Libs get all giddy claiming it means everyone is abandoning Trump and it's foreshadowing the Republicans getting smoked in the mid-terms.
So it's funny how when a Republican wins and there's silence.
Thanks for the clarification! So, given the demographics, looks like he has a mandate!
I haven’t lived in Georgia since 1969 and my, how it has changed.
It’s a safe district now. For a short period back in the 1970s I lived in the Macon area, in (or very near) this particular state Senate district.
I had the great (dis)pleasure of moving from above the Mason Dixon Line down to rural Georgia in 1976 literally just a few hours before Mr. Peanut Brain was elected President of the United States. Ugh.
I was too young at the time to understand just how massive a disaster that election outcome was, but I got the gist of it quickly, and so did the rest of America.
I remember seeing Carter’s billboards running for governor when I was still down there, or visiting after leaving — white letters on a Kelly green background. I knew the son of the Tom’s Peanuts business socially, and how few big businesses there were in the southern part of Georgia at the time (late 60s) other than agricultural-based processing. Even Atlanta wasn’t fully developed then. Whereas my career goals were to work with the Fortune 500, so I returned north do follow up on that. I had gone there, to Columbus, while my then-husband was at Fort Benning training to go to VietNam.
I loved the geography and physical features of the area, the red clay, the canyons and mountains and lakes and pines, and the sweetness of the accent. Bittersweet memories of those old days in the south, where you could still see weathered gray wooden cabins with big black iron pots for boiling peanuts out by the side of the road, and ramshackle gas stations with the faded RC Cola signs out front. Gone forever.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.