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Georgia Secretary of State
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 11, 2022
Primary: May 24, 2022 Primary runoff: June 21, 2022 General: November 8, 2022 Pre-election incumbent(s): Brad Raffensperger (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Georgia
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Incumbent Brad Raffensperger defeated three other candidates in the Republican primary election for Georgia secretary of state on May 24, 2022. The two candidates who led in polling were Raffensperger and Jody Hice. Raffensperger received 52.1% of the vote, and Hice received 33.7% of the vote.

Former President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Hice on March 22, 2021.^[1] Trump said, "Unlike the current Georgia Secretary of State, Jody leads out front with integrity. I have 100% confidence in Jody to fight for Free, Fair, and Secure Elections in Georgia, in line with our beloved U.S. Constitution. Jody will stop the Fraud and get honesty into our Elections!"^[2] Joseph Ax of Reuters wrote that Raffensperger "has been one of Trump's most frequent targets ever since he refused, emphatically and publicly, to capitulate to the demands of the former president, his fellow Republican, to 'find' enough votes to overturn the results in Georgia's 2020 presidential vote."^[3]

Raffensperger was elected as secretary of state in 2018. Raffensperger disputed Trump's claims about election fraud in 2020 and directly criticized Hice over those claims. During a January 2022 appearance on CBS' Face The Nation, Raffensperger said, "Congressman Hice, he’s been in Congress for several years. He’s never done a single piece of election reform legislation. Then he certified his own race with those same machines, the same ballots, and yet for President Trump, he said you couldn’t trust that."^[4] Raffensperger's website highlighted a #1 ranking in election integrity from the Heritage Foundation as proof of his leadership and conservative values.^[5]

Hice was elected to the U.S. House in 2014. Hice has supported Trump's election fraud claims. At a May 2022 debate, Hice said, "The 'big lie' in all of this is that there were no problems with this past election. This past election was an absolute disaster under the leadership of Brad Raffensperger."^[3] Hice objected to the counting of Georgia's electoral votes during the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.^[1] Hice said he would "aggressively pursue voter fraud" and would seek to make final election results available on election night.^[6]

The secretary of state is responsible for a wide range of services and regulatory duties, in addition to being the keeper of the Great Seal of Georgia and the custodian of the state flag and other state symbols. The secretary of state also chairs the Claims Advisory Board, which receives, investigates, and hears civil claims against the state. Responsibilities of the secretary's office include supervising and monitoring elections and providing campaign finance disclosure, managing and preserving public records, and licensing, monitoring, and registering professionals and businesses.

Also running in the primary were Torri M. Hudson and David Belle Isle.

This page focuses on Georgia's Republican Party secretary of state primary. For more in-depth information on Georgia's Democratic secretary of state primary and the general election, see the following pages:

• Georgia Secretary of State election, 2022 (May 24 Democratic primary)
• Georgia Secretary of State election, 2022

Election news[edit]

Click below to view a timeline leading up to the election, including polling, debates, and other noteworthy events.

Candidates and election results[edit]

Republican primary for Georgia Secretary of State

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Raffensperger	52.1	582,421
		Jody Hice	33.7	376,637
		David Belle Isle	8.8	98,523
		Torri M. Hudson	5.5	61,257

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3	Total votes: 1,118,838 (95.20% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Candidate comparison[edit]

Candidate profiles[edit]

This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff compiled a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Brad Raffensperger

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office: 

• Georgia Secretary of State (Assumed office: 2019)

• Georgia House of Representatives District 50 (2015-2019)
  

Biography:  Raffensperger received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Western University and his M.B.A. from Georgia State University. His professional experience includes working as CEO of and owning Tendon Systems, LLC, a contracting and engineering design firm.

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Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

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Raffensperger defended the state's final vote count in the 2020 presidential election. He said, "Me and all my other friends on the right side of the aisle were disappointed. But yup, those were the numbers. President Trump did come up short."

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Raffensperger said that under his leadership, the state earned a #1 ranking in election integrity from the Heritage Foundation.

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Raffensperger said he opposed federal voting legislation (such as HR 1) and called for changes to the National Voter Registration Act to allow for voter list maintenance within the 90-day election window.

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Show sources

Sources: Brad Raffensperger's 2022 campaign website, "Real Solutions," accessed May 5, 2022 ; Georgia Public Broadcasting, "A target of Trump's ire, Raffensperger fights for reelection," March 1, 2022; Georgia Secretary of State, "About Brad," accessed May 5, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Georgia Secretary of State in 2022

Jody Hice

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: 

U.S. House Georgia District 10 (Assumed office: 2015)

Biography:  Hice received a bachelor's degree from Asbury College in 1982 and his master's degree in ministry from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1986. His professional experience includes working as a pastor and a conservative radio show host.

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Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

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Hice criticized Raffensperger's handling of the 2020 presidential election and said that voter fraud affected the election outcome. At a debate, Hice said, "This past election was an absolute disaster under the leadership of Brad Raffensperger."

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Hice's campaign website said he would "aggressively pursue voter fraud" and seek to make all vote totals reported on election night.

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Hice said he opposed HR 1 and would fight its provisions in court should it become law.

---

Show sources

Sources: Jody Hice's 2022 campaign website, "Platform," accessed May 5, 2022 ; Reuters, "In race for Georgia's election chief, it's all about Trump and 2020," May 5, 2022 ; Reuters, "In race for Georgia's election chief, it's all about Trump and 2020," May 5, 2022; Congressman Jody Hice, "Biography," accessed May 5, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Georgia Secretary of State in 2022

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses[edit]

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Brad Raffensperger
• David Belle Isle
• Jody Hice
• Torri M. Hudson

Campaign ads[edit]

This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.

Brad Raffensperger[edit]

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Brad Raffensperger while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Jody Hice[edit]

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Jody Hice while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Torri Hudson[edit]

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Torri Hudson while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

David Belle Isle[edit]

View more ads here:

• YouTube

Debates and forums[edit]

This section includes links to debates, forums, and other similar events where multiple candidates in this race participated. If you are aware of any debates or forums that should be included, please email us.

May 2 debate[edit]

On May 2, 2022, all four candidates participated in a debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting.^[7]

• Click here to watch a recording of the event

Click on the links below for summaries of the event:

• Georgia Public Broadcasting
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

News and conflicts in this primary[edit]

This race was featured in The Heart of the Primaries, a newsletter capturing stories related to conflicts within each major party. Click here to read more about conflict in this and other 2022 Republican secretary of state primaries. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

• Heart of the Primaries 2022, Republicans-Issue 24 (May 26, 2022)
• Heart of the Primaries 2022, Republicans-Issue 19 (April 21, 2022)

Noteworthy endorsements[edit]

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please email us.

Republican primary endorsements
Endorser	Jody Hice
Government officials
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R)  source	✔
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R)  source	✔
Individuals
Frmr. Pres. Donald Trump  source 1 source 2	✔

Election competitiveness[edit]

Polls[edit]

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.^[8] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."^[9] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.

The links below show polls for this race aggregated by FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, where available. Click here to read about FiveThirtyEight's criteria for including polls in its aggregation.

Georgia Secretary of State election, 2022: Republican primary election polls
Poll	Date	Raffensperger	Hice	Hudson	Isle	Undecided/Other	Margin of error	Sample size[10]	Sponsor[11]
Survey USA	April 22-27, 2022	31%	20%	5%	4%	40%[12]	± 4.9	559 LV	N/A
University of Georgia	April 10-22, 2022	28%	26%	4%	5%	37%[12]	± 3.3	886 LV	N/A
Landmark Communications	April 9-10, 2022	18%	35%	3%	10%	33%[12]	± 3.8	660 LV	N/A
University of Georgia	March 20-April 8, 2022	23%	30%	4%	4%	39%[12]	± 3.6	736 LV	N/A
Emerson College/The Hill	April 1-3, 2022	29%	26%	3%	6%	37%[12]	± 4.3	509 LV	N/A

Election spending[edit]

Campaign finance[edit]

The chart below details campaign finance figures based on June 30th reports. To view more detailed information about each candidate in this race, click here to visit the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission's website.

Satellite spending[edit]

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[13][14][15]

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.

Election analysis[edit]

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
• Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
• State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
• Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.

Presidential elections[edit]

See also: Presidential voting trends in Georgia and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district[edit]

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Georgia, 2022
District	Incumbent	Party	PVI
Georgia's 1st	Buddy Carter	Republican	R+9
Georgia's 2nd	Sanford Bishop	Democratic	D+3
Georgia's 3rd	Drew Ferguson	Republican	R+18
Georgia's 4th	Hank Johnson	Democratic	D+27
Georgia's 5th	Nikema Williams	Democratic	D+32
Georgia's 6th	Open	Democratic	R+11
Georgia's 7th	Carolyn Bourdeaux / Lucy McBath	Democratic	D+10
Georgia's 8th	Austin Scott	Republican	R+16
Georgia's 9th	Andrew Clyde	Republican	R+22
Georgia's 10th	Open	Republican	R+15
Georgia's 11th	Barry Loudermilk	Republican	R+11
Georgia's 12th	Rick Allen	Republican	R+8
Georgia's 13th	David Scott	Democratic	D+28
Georgia's 14th	Marjorie Taylor Greene	Republican	R+22

2020 presidential results by 2022 congressional district lines[edit]

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2022 district lines, Georgia[16]
District	Joe Biden	Donald Trump
Georgia's 1st	42.6%	56.0%
Georgia's 2nd	54.7%	44.4%
Georgia's 3rd	34.4%	64.4%
Georgia's 4th	78.3%	20.6%
Georgia's 5th	82.6%	16.2%
Georgia's 6th	41.8%	56.7%
Georgia's 7th	62.3%	36.5%
Georgia's 8th	35.7%	63.3%
Georgia's 9th	30.4%	68.3%
Georgia's 10th	37.7%	61.1%
Georgia's 11th	41.5%	56.8%
Georgia's 12th	44.3%	54.5%
Georgia's 13th	79.7%	19.3%
Georgia's 14th	30.7%	68.1%

2012-2020[edit]

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:

Following the 2020 presidential election, 45.4% of Georgians lived in one of the state's 122 Solid Republican counties, which voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 35.4% lived in one of 27 Solid Democratic counties. Overall, Georgia was New Democratic, having voted for Mitt Romney (R) in 2012, Donald Trump (R) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Georgia following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Historical voting trends[edit]

Georgia presidential election results (1900-2020)

• 20 Democratic wins
• 10 Republican wins
• 1 other win

Statewide elections[edit]

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections[edit]

See also: List of United States Senators from Georgia

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Georgia.

U.S. Senate election results in Georgia
Race	Winner	Runner up
2020	51.0%	49.0%
2020	50.6%	49.4%
2016	54.8%	41.0%
2014	52.9%	45.2%
2010	58.1%	39.2%
Average	53.5	44.8

Gubernatorial elections[edit]

See also: Governor of Georgia

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Georgia.

Gubernatorial election results in Georgia
Race	Winner	Runner up
2018	50.2%	48.8%
2014	52.7%	44.9%
2010	53.0%	43.0%
2006	58.0%	38.2%
2002	51.4%	46.3%
Average	53.1	44.2

State partisanship[edit]

Congressional delegation[edit]

The table below displays the partisan composition of Georgia's congressional delegation as of September 2022.

State executive[edit]

The table below displays the officeholders in Georgia's top four state executive offices as of October 2022.

State executive officials in Georgia, October 2022
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Brian Kemp
Lieutenant Governor	Geoff Duncan
Secretary of State	Brad Raffensperger
Attorney General	Chris Carr

State legislature[edit]

The tables below highlight the partisan composition of the Georgia General Assembly as of September 2022.

Georgia State Senate[edit]

Georgia House of Representatives[edit]

Trifecta control[edit]

As of September 2022, Georgia was a Republican trifecta, with majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and control of the governorship. The table below displays the historical trifecta status of the state.

Demographics[edit]

The table below details demographic data in Georgia and compares it to the broader United States as of 2019.

Election context[edit]

Georgia Secretary of State election history[edit]

2018[edit]

See also: Georgia Secretary of State election, 2018

General runoff election for Georgia Secretary of State

Brad Raffensperger defeated John Barrow in the general runoff election for Georgia Secretary of State on December 4, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Raffensperger (R)	51.9	764,855
		John Barrow (D)	48.1	709,049

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,473,904 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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General election for Georgia Secretary of State

Brad Raffensperger and John Barrow advanced to a runoff. They defeated Smythe DuVal in the general election for Georgia Secretary of State on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Raffensperger (R)	49.1	1,906,588
✔		John Barrow (D)	48.7	1,890,310
		Smythe DuVal (L)	2.2	86,696

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,883,594 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary runoff for Georgia Secretary of State

Brad Raffensperger defeated David Belle Isle in the Republican primary runoff for Georgia Secretary of State on July 24, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Raffensperger	61.8	329,708
		David Belle Isle	38.2	204,194

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 533,902
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary for Georgia Secretary of State

John Barrow defeated Dee Dawkins-Haigler and R.J. Hadley in the Democratic primary for Georgia Secretary of State on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Barrow	51.5	264,864
		Dee Dawkins-Haigler	29.5	151,963
		R.J. Hadley	19.0	97,682

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 514,509
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary for Georgia Secretary of State

Brad Raffensperger and David Belle Isle advanced to a runoff. They defeated Joshua McKoon and Buzz Brockway in the Republican primary for Georgia Secretary of State on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Raffensperger	35.0	185,386
✔		David Belle Isle	28.5	151,328
		Joshua McKoon	21.1	112,113
		Buzz Brockway	15.4	81,492

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 530,319
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ken Brown (R)

2014[edit]

See also: Georgia secretary of state election, 2014

Secretary of State of Georgia, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Kemp Incumbent	57.5%	1,452,554
	Democrat	Doreen Carter	42.5%	1,075,101
Total Votes				2,527,655
Election results via Georgia Secretary of State

2022 battleground elections[edit]

See also: Battlegrounds

This election is a battleground race. Other 2022 battleground elections include:

• California's 22nd Congressional District election, 2022
• Colorado's 8th Congressional District election, 2022
• Iowa Auditor election, 2022
• Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District election, 2022 (May 10 Democratic primary)
• Texas' 37th Congressional District election, 2022 (March 1 Democratic primary)

See also[edit]

Georgia	State Executive Elections	News and Analysis
Georgia State Executive Offices Georgia State Legislature Georgia Courts	2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 Georgia elections: 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016	Party control of state government State government trifectas State of the state addresses Partisan composition of governors

External links[edit]

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Georgia Secretary of State official website

Footnotes[edit]

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