Georgia down ballot state executive elections, 2014

	; ; Georgia Down Ballot State Executive Elections
	Primary Date: ; May 20, 2014
	Runoff Date ; July 22, 2014
	General Election Date: ; November 4, 2014
	Georgia State Executive Elections Top Ballot; Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General ; Down Ballot ; Superintendent, Insurance Commissioner, Agriculture Commissioner, Labor Commissioner, Public Service Commissioner

Six down ballot state executive positions were up for election in the state of Georgia in 2014: state schools superintendent, insurance commissioner, commissioner of agriculture, commissioner of labor and two seats on the public service commission.

The general election was held on November 4, 2014, following a primary on May 20 and a runoff where necessary on July 22. Georgia election law requires a candidate to earn at least 50 percent of the primary election vote in order to automatically move on with the party's nomination.^[1] If no candidate reaches that threshold, the two candidates with the highest number of votes compete in a runoff, which, effective 2014, takes place "on the Tuesday of the ninth week" following the primary. The timetable was revised under House Bill 310 and signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal in January 2014; Prior to 2014, runoffs were regularly held three weeks after the preceding primary.^[2]

Going into the 2014 electoral cycle, all six down ballot positions were occupied by Republicans. Five of the incumbents were running for re-election. The exception, current Georgia State Superintendent of Schools John Barge (R), opted to run for governor against GOP incumbent Nathan Deal.^[3] He lost to Deal in the primary.

District 4 Public Service Commissioner Bubba McDonald (R) was the only incumbent from the down ballot races to face a primary challenge. Undaunted, McDonald easily overtook two challengers to secure the Republican nomination on May 20. He defeated uncontested Democratic nominee Daniel Blackman in the general election.

Current Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens defeated Democrat Liz Johnson and Libertarian Ted Metz in November. Johnson defeated opponent Keith Heard in the Democratic primary by a commanding margin of 40 percent.

Stealing some of the spotlight away from the top of the ticket, both superintendent primaries failed to produce a definitive victor in the primary and went to runoffs. The top two finishers in each field faced off on July 22: Alisha Thomas Morgan and Valarie Wilson for the Democrats; Mike Buck and Richard Woods for the Republicans.^[4] Wilson was declared the Democratic nominee late on election night, however the Republican race was too close to call. With 100 percent precincts reporting as of July 24, Woods led Buck by about 725 votes of almost 397,800 cast, not accounting for provisional ballots. The results of the runoff fell inside the 1 percent margin needed to warrant a recount. The recount concluded on Thursday, July 31, confirming Woods as the official winner.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] Woods defeated Wilson in the general election.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Georgia utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

State Superintendent of Schools

Candidates

General election

Filed for other office

John Barge - Incumbent

Primary Runoff

Democratic runoff
Valarie Wilson ^[13]
Alisha Thomas Morgan^[14]

Republican runoff
Richard Woods ^[15]
Mike Buck^[16]

Primary Election

Results

General election

Superintendent of Georgia, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard Woods	55.1%	1,391,005
	Democratic	Valarie Wilson	44.9%	1,132,886
Total Votes				2,523,891
Election results via Georgia Secretary of State

Primary runoff

Republican runoff

Georgia State Superintendents of Schools, Republican Primary Runoff, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Richard Woods	50.1%	199,441
Mike Buck	49.9%	198,741
Total Votes		398,182
Election results via Georgia Secretary of State.

Democratic runoff

Georgia State Superintendents of Schools, Democratic Primary Runoff, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Valarie Wilson	54.4%	73,740
Alisha Thomas Morgan	45.6%	61,882
Total Votes		135,622
Election results via Georgia Secretary of State.

Primary election

Republican primary

Georgia Superintendent of Schools, Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mike Buck	19.5%	91,435
Richard Woods	16.8%	78,542
Mary Kay Bacallao	15.3%	71,810
Ashley Bell	15%	70,065
Nancy Jester	10.9%	51,211
Fitz Johnson	7.7%	35,862
Allen Bowles Fort	6.3%	29,504
Sharyl Dawes	5.4%	25,468
Kira Willis	3.1%	14,584
Total Votes		468,481
Election results via Georgia Secretary of State Election Results.

Democratic primary

Georgia Superintendent of Schools, Democratic Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Valarie Wilson	32.6%	96,849
Alisha Thomas Morgan	26.4%	78,460
Denise Freeman	18.3%	54,428
Tarnisha Dent	13.5%	40,007
Jurita Forehand Mays	5.7%	16,818
Rita Robinzine	3.6%	10,609
Total Votes		297,171
Election results via Georgia Secretary of State Election Results.

Duties

The superintendent is charged by state law to "carry out and enforce all the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education and the laws governing the schools receiving state aid." Additionally, he is directed to make recommendations to the board on matters related to the "welfare and efficiency" of the public school system.^[31]

Campaign finance

Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $1,056,970 during the election. This information was last updated on May 12, 2015.^[32]

Campaign Contribution Totals
Candidate	Office	Result	Contributions
Valarie Wilson	Georgia Superintendent		$319,616
Fitz Johnson	Georgia Superintendent		$289,532
Alisha Thomas Morgan	Georgia Superintendent		$237,289
Ashley Bell	Georgia Superintendent		$51,058
Richard Woods	Georgia Superintendent		$48,829
Mike Buck	Georgia Superintendent		$26,400
Nancy Jester	Georgia Superintendent		$25,206
Kira Willis	Georgia Superintendent		$23,172
Allen Bowles Fort	Georgia Superintendent		$21,823
Denise Freeman	Georgia Superintendent		$5,600
Rita Robinzine	Georgia Superintendent		$4,200
Mary Kay Bacallao	Georgia Superintendent		$2,020
Tarnisha Dent	Georgia Superintendent		$1,375
Sharyl Dawes	Georgia Superintendent		$850
Jurita Forehand Mays	Georgia Superintendent		$0
Grand Total Raised			$1,056,970

Race background

In the May 20 primary election, neither of the crowded Democratic and Republican fields for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools managed to produce a candidate with at least 50 percent of the vote in their respective primaries.^[33] As a result, the top two vote-getters from each race competed in a runoff on July 22 to decide who would advance to the general election: state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan and former Decatur School Board Chairwoman Valarie Wilson for the Democrats; chief academic officer for the state Department of Education Mike Buck and veteran Irwin County educator Richard Woods for the Republicans.^[34]^[35]^[36]^[37]

Wilson was declared the Democratic nominee for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools over state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan late on May 20, while the GOP runoff between Buck and Woods was too close to call.^[38]^[39]^[40] ^[41] With 100 percent precincts fully reported the day after, excluding provisional ballots, Woods led by less than 730 votes out of about 397,800 cast—well below the one percent margin Georgia election law deems necessary to conduct a recount.^[42]^[40] On Thursday, July 31, the ensuing recount concluded that Woods had won the race by 713 votes.^[43]

As the sole open state executive seat in the 2014 elections, the superintendent race was expected to draw a substantial lineup of hopefuls. Outgoing incumbent John Barge, a Republican first elected Georgia's state schools chief in 2010, decided to forgo a possible re-election bid this year, instead setting his sights on the governorship. After being defeated by Nathan Deal in the GOP primary, Barge was unable to join in the superintendent ballot. Barge's choice was unique among the 10-man, all-Republican roster of Georgia executive incumbents, all of whom were considered likely to be re-elected, and exposed the superintendent's office as a target for Democrats looking to gain a foothold in the state's executive branch.^[44]^[45]

On November 4, Woods was elected to replace Barge as superintendent. He edged out Wilson by a margin of more than 10 percentage points.^[46]