Georgia is choosing a new governor to replace Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who is leaving after two terms. Republican businessman Rick Jackson faces Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta.
Jackson founded Jackson Healthcare and has largely paid for his own campaign. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports he has spent more than $200 million of his own money, much of it on TV ads. Bottoms has raised far less and has criticized Jackson's spending as an attempt to buy the election. If elected, Bottoms would make history as a Black woman leading the state, the AP notes.
Final polls showed an extremely close race. InsiderAdvantage's last survey had the two essentially tied at 49 percent each, with about 2 percent undecided.
Georgia requires a candidate to win a majority to avoid a runoff. If neither candidate gets more than half the vote, the top two go to a runoff in December.
The governor's race shares the ballot with Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff's re-election race against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, one of the most closely watched Senate contests in the country.
Georgia polls close at 7 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Central. The AP notes that early and mail ballots, which tend to favor Democrats, are often reported first, so early leads can shift as Election Day votes are counted.
Ballots are counted by state and local election officials. Raw 100.5 does not call races. Like NPR and PBS, we rely on the Associated Press, which declares a winner only when it determines a trailing candidate has no path left to win.
Sources: Associated Press, PBS News, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, InsiderAdvantage