Georgia Today: Georgia congressional race results; Election dispatches from across the state

Devon Zwald: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Wednesday, Nov. 6. I'm Devon Zwald. Today we bring you a special early edition of the program, giving you all the details of last night's election. This morning, Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential race. But it wasn't the only race we followed. We'll tell you how Georgia candidates fared in the other races, including the congressional races, and give you dispatches from reporters across the state. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Devon Zwald: Donald Trump has been elected president, according to the Associated Press. Georgia Republicans celebrated last night as Trump won Georgia's 16 electoral votes. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports.

Sarah Kallis: The Georgia GOP held their election night watch party at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead, and Trump supporters quickly became optimistic about the former president's performance in the Peach State as results rolled in. Anthony Bennett attended the party and described the night as exciting.

Anthony Bennett: I can't express it enough, Trump's been through so much stuff, so much. Such, such great perseverance through all this. It's the greatest political movement in the history of America.

Sarah Kallis: Georgia had record turnout this election. About 73% of active voters cast their ballot, according to the secretary of state's office. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Atlanta.

Story 2:

Devon Zwald: Even though Donald Trump has been elected president, Kamala Harris's presidential campaign fired up Georgia's Black communities with enthusiasm not seen since Barack Obama's first campaign 16 years ago. As GPB's Donna Lowry tells us, it's activism some hope will continue.

Donna Lowry: At an election watch party amid the Music and Vybez Restaurant and Lounge in Stonecrest, more than 300 people celebrated months of hard work registering, educating and encouraging voters. They are members of the National Panhellenic Council of DeKalb County, representing the nine Black fraternities and sororities known as the Divine Nine. Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity member Kaibaki Haines thinks the Harris/Walls campaign exposed the need for some critical conversations.

Kaibaki Haines: As we can battle the misinformation that's out there, making sure that we're targeting Black men and let them know what the policies are out there that can benefit us as a community collectively.

Donna Lowry: Election Day 2024 is over, but the group's commitment to uplifting communities will continue. For GPB News, I'm Donna Lowry.

Caption

Voting

Credit: GPB / File

Story 3:

Devon Zwald: Counting votes in Georgia was largely drama-free yesterday, even after years of back and forth about how elections should be run and if they could be run efficiently. Mike Kaplan is the at-large member of the Bibb County Board of Elections in Macon. He was pleased with how things went, even after a moment early in the evening when a crucial piece of technology malfunctioned.

Mike Kaplan: We had a little crisis here for a little while with a server, but we got it working and we're done. It's 9:30. So, democracy works.

Devon Zwald: Kaplan says he hopes this election convinces people to vote regularly and make the process, quote, "fun again."

Story 4:

Devon Zwald: Fulton County Board of Elections officials reported record turnout as the polls closed yesterday evening, despite disruptions. There were bomb threats at 32 poll locations across the county, but only five voting locations in Fulton had to stay open late after temporarily closing. Fulton County Police Chief Wade Yates says they planned heavily for a situation like this and law enforcement is working together to resolve it.

Wade Yates: We don't know where the threat — where the threats came from at this point, and it is an active investigation. But we do intend on doing our best to locate who — who made the threats and prosecute them fully.

Devon Zwald: State officials say the false threats originated in Russia.

Story 5:

Devon Zwald: Votes were slow to be counted in Savannah's Chatham County, a heavily Democratic area. Chatham County Board of Elections Chairman Tom Mahoney said this year's election was an improvement over 2020. But even so —

Tom Mahoney: I think there's a little bit of instant gratification expectation in our society in general, and you have a perception that you voted on a computer, which you didn't. You know, you — you printed out a ballot, a paper ballot, and you scanned that in. And that process will take some time. You know, we've got 89 precincts around just Chatham County.

Devon Zwald: Harris won Chatham County, but lost Georgia.

Story 6:

Devon Zwald: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a late-night press conference that he was proud of quick election results and a short wait times in Georgia yesterday. He also addressed the bomb threats that Georgia precincts received, mostly believed to be from Russia. All of the threats were non-viable.

Brad Raffensperger: Counties around Georgia received 60 bomb threats, and yet we still had record turnout. That is because I have led the creation of strong partnerships with law enforcement from the national level down to the local level.

Devon Zwald: About 5.2 million people in Georgia voted, a record high for the state.

Story 7:

Devon Zwald: And now a look at how Georgia candidates fared at last night's other races. Longtime incumbent Democrat Sanford Bishop won a 17th term in Congress, according to the Associated Press, defeating Republican Wayne Johnson in Southwest Georgia's 2nd Congressional District. And Brian Jack, a one-time aide to former President Donald Trump, won election to his first term in the U.S. House in a district south and west of Atlanta. Those were two of the highest-profile congressional races in a Georgia election with no statewide candidates on the ballot. Republicans maintained their 9 to 5 majority among Georgia's congressional seats, with all incumbents winning reelection, including Marjorie Taylor Greene in Northwest Georgia's 14th District and Democrat Lucy McBath in a newly redrawn 6th District on the west side of metro Atlanta. For the results of all the elections, you can visit GPB.org/election.

Caption

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis poses for a portrait, Wednesday, April 19, 2023, in Atlanta. Willis, the Atlanta prosecutor investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and others broke the law while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia, seems to be suggesting that any grand jury indictments in the case would likely come in August.

Credit: AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Story 8:

Devon Zwald: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also won her reelection bid. The Georgia prosecutor brought charges against former President Donald Trump over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. She defeated Republican challenger Courtney Cramer. Cramer had interned in the White House counsel's office during the Trump presidency and is active in GOP organizations. Fulton County is home to 11% of the state's electorate and includes most of the city of Atlanta. The county is a Democratic stronghold.

Devon Zwald: That's it for this edition of Georgia Today. We'll be back this afternoon with our regularly scheduled episode. If you haven't yet hit subscribe on this podcast, take a moment to do it right now so you won't miss it. For more on these stories, visit GPB.org/news. If you have feedback or a story idea, email us at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Devon Zwald. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.

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For more on these stories, visit GPB.org/news

And for more information on the elections, visit GPB.org/election