Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced that several state runoff races scheduled for Dec. 1 have been moved to Jan. 5, 2021.

The Secretary of State said in a news conference that five state and local runoffs will be moved to coincide with the crucial federal Senate runoff races between Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock and David Perdue and Jon Ossoff. Raffensperger said he had the power to move the runoffs due to the ongoing health emergency.

“This is an untenable situation for these men and women, to try and run both of these elections,” Raffensperger said. However, the secretary of state’s office clarified and said the U.S. House Georgia District 5 Special Election runoff to fill the late John Lewis’ seat will still happen on Dec. 1.

Former Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall and former Morehouse College President Robert Franklin are looking to win the special election to fill the remainder of the term of the late John Lewis. The term will only be about 6 weeks, until State Sen. Nikema Williams is sworn in for the new term.

Georgia’s two Senate races will determine the balance of power in the Senate.

RESCHEDULED RACES:

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION DISTRICT 4

• LAUREN BUBBA MCDONALD, JR. (I) (R)
• DANIEL BLACKMAN (D)

Source: WSBTV