Judge Rejects Bid to Overturn Closely Contested House Race
A Republican candidate in East Georgia has lost a court challenge to invalidate her narrow defeat in the November election. On Monday, a judge ruled against Tracy Wheeler’s lawsuit seeking a redo of her race against Democratic incumbent Mack Jackson, citing a lack of evidence proving systemic election irregularities.
Court Finds No Grounds for New Election
Tifton Judicial Circuit Senior Superior Court Judge Gary McCorvey determined that Wheeler failed to demonstrate that enough improper votes were cast to justify a new election. While the court acknowledged that 14 improper votes were identified, McCorvey emphasized that speculation about additional invalid ballots was not sufficient to alter the election outcome.
In his ruling, McCorvey rejected the argument that alleged voting errors—such as 44 individuals being placed in the wrong district—were enough to invalidate the results. The court could not assume that at least 34 of those voters had participated in the House District 128 race, which Jackson won by 48 votes.
“Such presumptions are not allowed,” McCorvey wrote. “Mere speculation as to how many, if any, of these ‘outsiders’ actually voted in this race cannot be used to place in doubt the result of this election.”
Disputed Ballots and Legal Challenge
Wheeler filed the lawsuit shortly after the Nov. 5 election, raising concerns over ballot errors. She argued that some voters were given ballots for the wrong district, potentially affecting the outcome in the district covering portions of Baldwin and McDuffie counties, as well as all of Hancock, Warren, Glascock, and Washington counties.
Election officials acknowledged mistakes but defended the integrity of the process. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office did not intervene in Wheeler’s challenge, indicating that state-level election monitors did not find evidence of widespread irregularities that would justify overturning the results.
Political Landscape Remains Unchanged
With Jackson’s victory upheld, Georgia Republicans will hold a 100-80 advantage in the state House when the new legislative session begins. Democrats managed to flip two House seats in the November election but were unable to gain ground in the state Senate, where Republicans retain a 33-23 majority.
For Wheeler, the ruling marks the end of her challenge but not necessarily the end of her political ambitions. She thanked her nearly 14,000 supporters and expressed continued confidence in local election workers, despite the issues raised in her lawsuit.
“Since Nov. 6, we have been involved in litigation to better understand the results, as there appeared to have been mistakes in how the election was administered,” Wheeler said. “I firmly believe that all of our local election workers and volunteers acted in good faith and always aim to produce fair and accurate results. With that said, errors can happen.”
