Two Democratic candidates have advanced to a runoff election in Georgia's 13th Congressional District after neither captured the required 51% of votes needed to win outright in Tuesday's special election to fill the seat left by the late Rep. David Scott, D-Ga.

Marcye Scott, daughter of the late congressman who died in office in April at age 80, will face Everton Blair, chair of the Gwinnett County School Board, in the Aug. 25 runoff. A Republican candidate, Caesar Gonzales, did not advance after receiving only 8.7% of the vote.

What the Left Is Saying

Marcye Scott has positioned herself as the candidate best suited to continue her father's legacy and his work on roads, infrastructure, public safety and transportation priorities in the district.

"That would be what I definitely want to do, to make sure that his voters, his constituents, do not miss out on what he was offering," Scott said during her campaign announcement. She has highlighted constituent outreach work she performed for her father as evidence of her readiness to serve.

Everton Blair has run a campaign focused on opposing cuts to the Department of Education and supporting policies including Medicare-for-all, increasing the minimum wage and raising teacher pay. On his website, Blair lists these as top priorities alongside expanding educational resources.

"You can't fix a system that's being dismantled from the top. Right now, Donald Trump is getting rid of the Department of Education and cutting money from schools that already have the least," Blair said during a campaign visit. "That doesn't just hurt some office in Washington. It hurts the kid in the back of the classroom in this district."

What the Right Is Saying

Republicans have not issued formal statements about the Georgia special election race, but conservative commentators have raised questions about what the Democratic primary reveals about party priorities.

"The fact that Democrats are treating this seat like a family inheritance tells you everything about how they view voters in this district," said one Republican strategist who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. "If the party truly believed this was about qualifications and readiness, there would have been a competitive primary with multiple candidates from different backgrounds. Instead, it's Marcye Scott or someone else."

Republican observers have also noted Everton Blair's school board record as potential ammunition for November, pointing to his tenure during debates over curriculum policies and school funding that could draw scrutiny in a general election context.

"The Democratic nominee will be either a political dynasty candidate with no experience outside constituent casework or a school board chair who wants to bring far-left policies from Gwinnett County to Washington," the strategist added. "Either way, Republicans have an opportunity to make this race about more than just one district."

With House Republicans holding a 218-212 majority over Democrats, the outcome of Georgia's 13th District will not immediately shift the balance of power in the narrowly divided chamber.

What the Numbers Show

Neither Democratic candidate surpassed Georgia's 50% plus one vote threshold required to win a special election outright. The winner of the Aug. 25 runoff will serve out the remainder of David Scott's term, which ends in January.

The eventual winner must also compete in the November general election for a full two-year term. In his last re-election bid in 2024, David Scott defeated Republican challenger Jonathan Chavez with 71.8% of the vote to 28.2%.

David Scott served Georgia's 13th Congressional District for more than two decades before passing away in April at age 80. His office did not disclose a cause of death.

The Bottom Line

The Aug. 25 runoff will determine who fills this seat until January, with the winner facing another election just months later in November for a full term. The outcome matters because every seat counts in a House where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority of 218-212 over Democrats, meaning even one additional Democratic member could complicate Republican legislative priorities requiring party-line votes.

Voters in Georgia's 13th Congressional District will ultimately decide whether to send the late congressman's daughter or the local school board chair to Washington. The winner inherits a heavily Democratic district where David Scott consistently won by wide margins.