Whitehead Easily Advances To Runoff, One Step Closer To Congress

Georgia GOP state senator Jim Whitehead is one step closer to Congress, easily outpacing nine other rivals in today’s special election with 44 percent of the vote. But he didn’t manage to win a majority in the 10-candidate field, and will move on to a July 17 runoff.

Whitehead will either face Republican physician Paul Broun or Democrat marketing executive James Marlow in the runoff. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Broun (with 20.7 percent) led Marlow (20.3 percent) by just 187 votes. Given the narrow separation between second and third place, a recount may be necessary to determine Whitehead’s opponent.