Voting begins in Georgia's 13th Congressional District special election to succeed Rep. David Scott

Six candidates in Georgia's 13th Congressional District are on the ballot to serve the remainder of Rep. David Scott's term after the longtime lawmaker's death in April.

After a period of early voting, Tuesday marks election day for the 13th Congressional District special election.

Six candidates qualified to succeed Scott, including his daughter, Marcye Michelle Scott.

The four Democratic candidates that are up for election are Scott, former Gwinnett County School Board Chair Everton "EJ" Blair II, Tony Michael Brown, and Carlos Eugene Moore. Two Republican candidates also qualified: Carlos Gonzales and Fayth Elizabeth Park. All six candidates will appear on the same ballot.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will advance to an Aug. 25 special runoff election.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m, though voters in line at that time will still be allowed to vote. Any voter registered in the district is allowed to participate in the special election. While there are about 584,000 registered voters in the district, only around 8,700 were cast during the early voting period.

Whoever wins on Tuesday or in August's runoff will serve the remaining few months of Scott's current term, which is set to end next January. Voters will decide whether Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark or Republican Jonathan Chavez will serve a full term in November's general election.

The contest in the heavily Democratic district could have an immediate impact on the balance of power in the U.S. House, where Republicans cling to a thin majority.

Scott won his 2024 reelection bid with about 72% of the vote. That night, Democratic then-Vice President Kamala Harris received about 71% in the district, compared with about 28% for Republican then-former President Trump, in the presidential election.