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 First round county results Runoff county resultsCoverdell: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Fowler: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1992 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 3, 1992. In the general election, which occurred simultaneously with the presidential election, incumbentDemocratic U.S. SenatorWyche Fowler received more votes, but did not achieve asimple majority. Under Georgia law, this demanded a runoff. Paul Coverdell, the former Director of the Peace Corps, edged out Fowler in the November 24 runoff by a narrow margin, flipping the seat to the Republicans. It was the first Senate runoff election to be held in Georgia since runoffs were first mandated in 1964. This was the third consecutive election for this Senate seat where the incumbent was defeated.
The general primary was held July 21, 1992.[1] A run-off between the top two Republican contenders was held on August 11, in whichPaul Coverdell defeatedBob Barr.
Results[2] for the first round showed that since Paul Coverdell did not win a majority of the vote, a runoff was held between him and Barr. Coverdell subsequently won the runoff.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Paul Coverdell | 100,016 | 37.05% | |
| Republican | Bob Barr | 65,471 | 24.25% | |
| Republican | John Knox | 64,514 | 23.90% | |
| Republican | Charlie Tanksley | 32,590 | 12.07% | |
| Republican | Dean Parkison | 7,352 | 2.72% | |
| Turnout | 269,943 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Paul Coverdell | 80,435 | 50.49% | |
| Republican | Bob Barr | 78,887 | 49.51% | |
| Turnout | 159,332 | 100.00% | ||
As no candidate reached a majority on November 3, a runoff election was held on November 24, which Coverdell won.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Wyche Fowler (incumbent) | 1,108,416 | 49.23% | |
| Republican | Paul Coverdell | 1,073,282 | 47.67% | |
| Libertarian | Jim Hudson | 69,878 | 3.10% | |
| Write-In Votes | 11 | 0.00% | ||
| Majority | 35,134 | 1.56% | ||
| Turnout | 2,251,587 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Paul Coverdell | 635,118 | 50.65% | ||
| Democratic | Wyche Fowler (incumbent) | 618,774 | 49.35% | ||
| Majority | 16,344 | 1.30% | |||
| Turnout | 1,253,892 | ||||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | |||||
The Georgia Legislature, then controlled by Democrats, changed the state's laws requiring a run-off election only if the winning candidate received less than 45% of the vote. In the1996 Senate election, the winner, DemocratMax Cleland won with only 48.9% (1.4% ahead of RepublicanGuy Millner) thus avoiding a run-off. In 2005 after Republicans took control of the legislature, the run-off requirement was changed back to 50%.[3]
The result of this election would later repeat in reverse in the2020-2021 regular Senate election in Georgia, with RepublicanDavid Perdue winning the first round but falling less than one percent below the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff, and then being defeated in the runoff by DemocratJon Ossoff with a similar one point margin.[4]
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