by Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder, [This article first appeared in the Georgia Recorder, republished with permission]

September 3, 2025

The special election to choose the next state senator in a suburban Atlanta district is going to a recount ahead of a Sept. 23 runoff.

Steve West, the third-place finisher in the race to replace Republican former state Sen. Brandon Beach, requested the recount Wednesday, a spokesman for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said.

Beach stepped down to serve as U.S. Treasurer, and seven people stepped up to replace him, including six Republicans and one Democrat in a reliably conservative district that includes parts of Cherokee and Fulton counties.

The sole Democrat, Milton mom, attorney and small business owner, Debra Shigley, placed first place with 8,444 votes, good for nearly 40% of the vote, but not good enough for an outright win.

Instead, she’ll duke it out in a runoff with the second-place finisher, who appears to be Jason Dickerson, a Republican investment manager, who earned just over 17% of the vote with 3,709 ballots cast. But West, a former Cherokee County Commissioner, trailed Dickerson by just 67 votes according to the initial count, putting him within the .5% margin required to call for a for a second tallying.

In a statement, West’s campaign confirmed they are seeking a recount and are reviewing the results “to ensure no voting irregularities occurred that may have impacted the outcome of the election.”

State law doesn’t give a timeline for finishing a recount, but it’s likely that the counties will want to complete the recount quickly so they can finalize their runoff ballots. Early voting is set to begin as soon as Sept. 13 in some areas of the district.

Shigley’s performance last month was notable because Beach, a steadfast MAGA supporter, consistently won re-election by large margins in the heavily Republican district. Democrats hope her strong numbers show dissatisfaction with Republican leadership at the state and federal level and portend an anti-GOP mood going into next year’s midterms.

Republicans say Shigley’s margin was bolstered by the GOP vote being split six ways and that their candidate will easily win the runoff.

In a statement, Dickerson expressed confidence that both the recount and the runoff will go his way.

“We look forward to the recount confirming the certified result,” he said. “We won’t be distracted and will remain focused on defeating woke liberal Debra Shigley in the runoff that is already underway!”

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