Republican wins Georgia secretary of state runoff to replace Kemp

Republican Brad Raffensperger was elected secretary of state in Georgia on Tuesday, replacing Gov.-elect Brian Kemp (R), who came under scrutiny in recent months over allegations of voter suppression.

Raffensperger, a state lawmaker, defeated Democrat John Barrow in a runoff election, according to Georgia’s secretary of state. Barrow is a former Democratic congressman.

Neither candidate received a majority of the vote in November’s general election.

{mosads}President Trump tweeted an endorsement of Raffensberger last month.

The Republican will replace Kemp, who won the state’s gubernatorial election last month, narrowly defeating Democrat Stacey Abrams.

Kemp, who as secretary of state oversaw Georgia’s voter rolls, faced numerous allegations of engaging in voter suppression tactics targeting minority groups. Kemp denied those allegations.

In the final weeks of the hotly contested race, Abrams’s campaign and voting rights groups issued repeated calls for Kemp to resign or recuse himself from any matters related to the election in which he is a candidate, but he refused.

Abrams late last month backed a lawsuit seeking to overhaul Georgia’s electoral process.