State Rep. Lee Anderson is in an Aug. 21 runoff for the Republican nomination in the 12th Congressional District.
The Grovetown lawmaker’s most likely opponent is Augusta businessman Rick Allen.
The runoff victor will face embattled Democratic U.S. Rep. John Barrow in one of the nation’s most-watched House races.
With votes in all 19 counties chalked up, the unofficial tally was Anderson, 34.2 percent; Allen, 25.7 percent and Augusta attorney Wright McLeod, 24.8 percent. Dublin lawyer Maria Sheffield trailed with 15.3 percent.
Click here to view the unofficial election summary report for Chatham County
Because — as many expected — no one drew a majority of the vote, a runoff between top two finishers is required.
Still to be counted are overseas military ballots and provisional ballots. The latter were cast Tuesday but are counted only if discrepancies are resolved.
Counties are due to post official totals that include both kinds of ballots on Friday.
Click here to view an unofficial statement of numbers of votes cast for Chatham County
“We’re acting as though we’re in a runoff,” said Scott Paradise, Allen’s campaign manager. “Rick is dialing for campaign contributions and we’ve got volunteers working.”
McLeod’s campaign did not respond Wednesday to three requests for comment.
The Associated Press said he emailed backers, saying he’ll wait until the official vote is certified next week before deciding what to do.
By law, he’s entitled to a recount if the vote margin between him and Allen remains 1 percent or less. But the statewide shift to touch-screen voting has sharply reduced vote total changes after recounts.
The seat is up for grabs after boundary changes that tilted the 12th toward the GOP and prompted Barrow to move from Savannah to Augusta.
“We start tonight to build a winning runoff campaign so we can beat John Barrow and Barack Obama and get America growing again,” Anderson said Tuesday.
Tuesday’s voting capped a hard-hitting campaign that saw the candidates spend a combined total of nearly $2 million.
All the candidates bet heavily on themselves, loaning their campaigns $100,000 or more. Allen anted up at least $290,000; Anderson, $178,000.
The candidates — all conservatives — differed little on the issues and struggled for ways to stand out.
One much-asked question was how many GOP voters in Richmond County would cast ballots in a hotly contested local Democratic primary for sheriff.
The county is home turf for McLeod and Allen, and some analysts said a big crossover vote would help Anderson, Sheffield or both.
Turnout in Richmond on Tuesday for the 12th District primary — 4,826 — was far short of the 12,484 who voted there in the GOP presidential primary in March.
Although other factors likely played a role, that suggests the sheriff’s race siphoned off some Republicans.
Unofficial totals showed McLeod actually led Allen in votes cast at the polls. Allen owes his lead to ones cast in advance or by mail.
Sheffield, the only candidate out of the runoff picture, faces a decision whether to endorse either of the candidates in that contest.
Kathryn Ballou, her campaign manager, said she’ll wait until certification before making up her mind.
“For everything under Heaven there is a season,” Sheffield said Tuesday. “Tonight it was not in God’s providence that our campaign move forward in this process.”
But even in defeat, she said she remains committed to ousting Barrow.
“Congressman John Barrow,” she said, “you are a clear and present danger to Georgia and you are going to be defeated by a united Republican Party this November.”
But Barrow’s not going away quietly; he recently reported having banked
$1.4 million for his bid for a fifth term.
Rick Allen: 34.2%
Lee Anderson: 25.7%
Wright McLeod: 24.8%
Maria Sheffield: 15.3%