Two Democrats advance to a runoff in the Georgia special election to succeed late Rep. David Scott

Marcye Scott, the daughter of the late Rep. David Scott, and fellow Democrat Everton Blair advanced to a runoff Tuesday in the Georgia special election to fill the final months of the longtime congressman’s term in the House, NBC News projects. The two candidates finished atop a five-candidate, all-party special primary election for Georgia’s 13th District.

But since no one got majority support, the race will go one more round. With about 80% of the expected vote tallied, Marcye Scott had 47% support and Blair, a former school board chair in Gwinnett County, had 37%. David Scott died April 22, triggering the special election to decide who holds the seat for the rest of 2026.

He represented the solid-blue district, consisting of counties covering metro Atlanta and southern suburbs, for two decades and won his final term with about 72% support in the 2024 election. Voters in the district already participated in a separate contest for the next full congressional term in the 13th District starting in January. Jasmine Clark, a state legislator, won that Democratic primary this year, about four weeks after David Scott died.

Marcye Scott and Blair outran a field that included one other Democrat, Carlos Moore, and two Republicans, Caesar Gonzales and Fayth Park. Annelise Hanson is an intern at NBC News.