The qualifying period for the July 28 special election to fill late Representative David Scott's congressional seat ended Wednesday, with his daughter being the first to file her paperwork to run.
Rep. Scott (D), who died April 22, after serving Georgia's 13th congressional district since 2003, when the district was created. He was running for reelection at the time of his death.
His daughter, Marcye Scott, announced her plan shortly after his death to run to fill her father's seat for the remainder of his term, set to end in January.
After Governor Brian Kemp announced the special election set for July 28, she was the first to officially qualify on May 11, the first of a three-day qualifying period ending Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Scott said she originally planned to run for her father's seat in the November midterms before he decided to launch another reelection campaign, so taking over his seat was always part of the plan.
Before the late representative's death, seven candidates were already running against him in the November midterms, including six facing Scott in the Democratic primary.
Among the Democratic candidates are Everton Blair, Jasmine Clark, Jeffree Fauntleroy, Emanuel Jones, Heavenly Kimes and Joe Lester. The one Republican in the race is Jonathon Chavez.
Everton Blair, a former Gwinnett County school board chair, was the only candidate who chose to also run in the special election and will be the only person to appear on both the Democratic primary and special election ballots.
Two other Democrats, in addition to Blair and Scott, qualified alongside two Republicans. All six candidates will appear on one ballot July 28, with a runoff scheduled for Aug. 25, if needed.
A candidate must get at least 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.
The Democratic candidates, other than Scott and Blair, are Tony Brown, who is currently running for a position in the Georgia House and Carlos Moore, a judge.
The Republican candidates are Fayth Park and Caesar Gonzalez, who ran against Rep. Scott for the seat in 2022, losing by a wide margin.
