The 2016 United States Senate election in Georgia was held November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primary election for the Republican and Democratic parties took place on May 24, 2016.
Incumbent Senator Johnny Isakson won re-election to a third term in office by a wide margin. He later resigned from the Senate on December 31, 2019, due to health issues. As of 2024, this remains the last time Republicans won a Senate election in Georgia, as well as the last time that suburban Gwinnett and Henry counties have voted Republican in a statewide election. It also remains the last time that any statewide candidate has won an election in Georgia by double digits, and the last time that any U.S. Senate candidate in Georgia has won without a runoff. This is the also the last United States Senate election in Georgia in which the winning candidate won a majority of counties.
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
Withdrawn
- Lee Benedict, teacher and state senate candidate in 2007 (running for the Columbia County Commission)
Declined
Endorsements
Polling
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
- James F. Barksdale, investment firm executive
- Cheryl Copeland, AT&T manager
- John Coyne, businessman and perennial candidate
Withdrawn
Declined
- Stacey Abrams, Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives
- Thurbert Baker, former Attorney General of Georgia and candidate for governor in 2010
- Roy Barnes, former governor
- John Barrow, former U.S. Representative
- Jason Carter, state senator and nominee for Governor of Georgia in 2014
- Stacey Evans, state representative
- Shirley Franklin, former Mayor of Atlanta
- Scott Holcomb, state representative and candidate for secretary of state in 2006
- Margaret Kaiser, state representative
- Jim Marshall, former U.S. Representative
- Michelle Nunn, former CEO of Points of Light and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2014
- Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta
- Michael Sterling, executive director of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, former Assistant United States Attorney and former adviser to Mayor Kasim Reed
- Doug Stoner, former state senator
- Ed Tarver, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia and former state senator
- Regina Thomas, former state senator and candidate for GA-12 in 2008 and 2010
- Teresa Tomlinson, Mayor of Columbus
- Raphael Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church and future U.S. Senator for this seat
Results
Libertarian nomination
Candidates
Declared
- Allen Buckley, attorney, accountant, nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and 2008 and nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia in 2006
- Ted Metz, insurance agent, former Cobb County Republican district chairman, and nominee for insurance commissioner in 2014
Allen Buckley won the nomination at the March 5, 2016, nominating convention in Marietta.
General election
Debates
Polling
Predictions
Results
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
By congressional district
Isakson won ten of 14 congressional districts.
References
External links
Official campaign websites