Who are the winners of the Georgia Senate 2022 primary? Stage set for general election
The Georgia Senate primary election results are in, setting the stage for general elections in Chatham County.
This year, Democratic primaries took place in District 1 and District 2 with the latter holding the only Republican primary.
Two Democrats challenged Republican incumbent Ben Watson, who assumed office in 2015. Four candidates — two Democrats and two Republicans — ran for Lester Jackson’s open seat after the long-time senator elected to campaign for State Labor commissioner instead of going up for re-election.
Election results: Race-by-race results for local and statewide contests
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Take a closer look at the winners of each race below.
Georgia Senate District 1
Incumbent Sen. Ben Watson, who won office in 2014, faced no opposition in the Republican primary and will face Democratic candidate James "Jay" Jones in the November general election.
Jones defeated his opponent, Andrew Robert Niquette, with 78.95% of the votes.
Jones serves as the chairman of the Chatham Democratic Committee and previously sat on the Chatham County Commission. He mounted an unsuccessful campaign for Chatham Commission chairman in 2020, losing to Chester Ellis.
Georgia Senate District 2
Republican Clinton Young and Democrat Derek Mallow will face off in November to represent District 2 in the Georgia State Senate.
Young defeated Ken Yasger in the Republican primary with 55.93% of the vote. Mallow defeated opponent Orlando Scott with 65.61% of the vote in the Democratic primary.
Related: House Rep. Derek Mallow announces his run for Georgia Senate seat
Mallow joined the Georgia House in 2021 after winning a 2020 election runoff against Anne Westbrook by 19 votes. Mallow is a champion for more educational funding and wants to further expand Medicaid and criminal justice reform. He also wants to address the need for affordable housing.
"I'm thankful to all of the voters ... appreciative of my house district who overwhelming voted for me to be their state senator. To my opponent Orlando Scott, I'm thankful for running an amazing campaign and a clean race," Mallow said. "Now as I move forward to November, and you see the turnout that I had in the primary, we'll be running to beat the Senator-elect in November."
Young switched parties to run for the Senate post after a failed bid to win a Georgia House seat in 2020 and 2021 elections. He is a military veteran and a retired vending machine business owner.
Georgia Senate District 4
Sen. Billy Hickman, a Republican from Statesboro, ran unopposed in District 4.
Laura Nwogu is the quality of life reporter for Savannah Morning News. Contact her at LNwogu@gannett.com. Twitter: @lauranwogu_
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Senate primary election results and winners in Chatham County
