In a run off election, former state representative Hardie Davis walked away with more than 55 percent of the votes. That was more than enough to defeat fellow Democrat Harold Jones in the race for the District 22 senate seat.

Davis says he wants to get the votes certified as quickly as possible so he can begin his work in the General Assembly.

"I want to get a sense of what the lay of the land is. There’s a lot going on: budget hearings, budget cuts, transportation. There’s a lot that’s been happening here over the last several days and so I just want to make sure that I get a sense of where we are and what’s going on and then best be able to work with our delegation members to move Augusta forward," Davis said.

The runoff came after both Davis and Jones failed to win a majority of votes in a special election last month. The District 22 seat has been empty since Ed Tarver resigned to take a job as U.S. Attorney.

Tags: lawmakers, state senator, special election, Ed Tarver, Georgia Democratic Party, Hardie Davis, U.S. Attorney Ed Tarver, runoff election, Harold Jones, GPB lawmakers