ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump has taken the headlines Wednesday morning by completing his political comeback with a projected win to return to the White House in what could end up a landslide.
Georgia returned to the red to help elect the 45thpresident as the 47th president, but that wasn't the only race of consequence in the Peach State. From U.S. House races to statewide constitutional amendments, important races were decided on Tuesday, as well.
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Here's a look at what else you need to know about the 2024 election in Georgia:
2024 election | What to know about statewide results in Georgia
- U.S. House races went according to expectation
Georgia has 14 congressional districts, and incumbents were running for re-election in 13 of them; all 13 of those incumbents won. That included staunch Trump allies such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Mike Collins and Rep. Andrew Clyde, as well as long-serving Democrats such as Rep. Sanford Bishop, Rep. David Scott and Rep. Hank Johnson.
In metro Atlanta, Democratic Reps. Nikema Williams and Lucy McBath, and Republican Reps. Rich McCormick and Barry Loudermilk also retained their seats.
The races were all largely considered safe thanks in part to Georgia's gerrymandered maps.
In the only race where there was no incumbent -- Rep. Drew Ferguson (R) chose not to seek re-election in the 3rd District -- Republicans held the seat with Brian Jack, who was a Trump administration official in 2019 and 2020.
- Voters approved two state constitutional amendments and one referendum question
Both Amendment 1, concerning a statewide homestead tax exemption, and Referendum A, concerning a personal property tax exemption, appeared on their way to passing with more than 60% of the vote. Amendment 2, to reorganize the state tax court, was just shy of 52% on Wednesday morning in a tally that was highly unlikely to reverse with the few stray ballots left to be counted.
Amendment 1 authorizes the Georgia General Assembly to implement a statewide exemption from ad valorem taxes, with an option for local governments and school systems to opt out.
Referendum A approves increasing the personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000.
Amendment 2 moves the state's Tax Tribunal to the judicial branch where it was currently under the executive branch and incorporated into the state Department of Revenue.
- Transit measures failed in Gwinnett and Cobb counties
Famous for repeated rejections of MARTA expansion in countywide votes, Gwinnett and Cobb both rejected measures for transit expansion that did not include MARTA and would have been limited to local projects, such as micro transit in Gwinnett and bus expansion in Cobb.
Both measures would have implemented a one percent sales tax increase to fund transit projects.
- Georgia General Assembly races of note
There were no incumbents defeated in state Senate races, including one in which Republican Shawn Still, who was indicted for serving as an "alternate" elector in the 2020 election case in Fulton County, held his District 48 seat in metro Atlanta by holding off 25-year-old Democrat Ashwin Ramaswami.
Democrats flipped at least two state House seats, including Mesha Mainor's. She had originally won election as a Democrat for the 56th District seat that covers parts of the City of Atlanta, but last year switched to the Republican Party. She was beaten by Democrat Bryce Berry.
Floyd Griffin, formerly a state senator as well as the mayor of Milledgeville, also beat Republican Ken Vance to win the District 149 House seat.
- Metro Atlanta county races largely go according to expectation
Democratic Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis won re-election with more than 68% of the vote so far against Republican challenger Courtney Kramer, who made inroads in the campaign in part by criticizing Willis' handling of the YSL case.
Democratic sheriffs in Democratic-leaning Cobb County (Craig D. Owens, Sr.), Gwinnett County (Keybo Taylor) and Henry County (Reginald B. Scandrett) all won re-election.
Democrat Lisa Cupid was re-elected chair of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and Democrat Nicole Love Hendrickson was re-elected chair of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, as well.
In one notable local race in the region, the embattled district attorney in Athens-Clarke County and Oconee County, Deborah Gonzalez, was beaten by challenger Kalki Yalamanchili.