ATLANTA — Georgia Democrats continued to gather momentum ahead of next year’s midterm elections, flipping a solidly Republican state House seat in a special election on Tuesday to represent parts of Oconee and Clarke counties.

Democrat Eric Gisler defeated Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest , with 50.85% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s Office.

“We had an excellent team. We had a great ground game. We had a better message that appealed to more voters, and it shows up in the results,” Gisler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

He was heavily boosted by votes in Clarke County, surrounding the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens.

Gisler, who works in information technology, focused his campaign on housing and health care. He will replace former Republican state Rep. Marcus Wiedower, who resigned in October to focus more time on his real estate business. Wiedower had won with 61% of the vote last year, and President Donald Trump won with about 56%.

Gov. Brian Kemp had endorsed Guest, who operates a trucking company.

Democrats in November ousted two GOP incumbents for seats on the state’s Public Service Commission, which sets Georgia Power’s electricity rates and regulates other utilities. The upsets were the first non-federal statewide wins for Democrats since 2006.

It takes 91 seats in the 180-member chamber to hold the majority. Democrats, who last held the majority more than two decades ago, had 80 seats, and Republicans had 100.

With Gisler’s victory, Democrats will now hold 81.

“All across the state, Georgians are realizing there’s only one party that’s working to lower costs, keep health care affordable, and put people ahead of big corporations — and that’s the Democratic Party,” said Charlie Bailey, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

DPG spent $50,000 toward Gisler’s race. His success will also usher in more support from the Democratic National Committee.

“Fresh off the resounding victories in the Georgia Public Service Commissioner races and now this historic flip, the DNC will continue to invest, organize, and compete in every corner of Georgia as we rebuild long-standing Democratic power in the Sun Belt,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.

In another special election Tuesday, Republican Bill Fincher and Democrat Scott Sanders will head to a runoff election Jan. 6 for a state House seat in Cherokee County.

Fincher received about 27% of the vote, and Sanders notched just under 27%, but neither received the majority in a six-candidate contest to win outright.

The winner will replace former state Rep. Mandi Ballinger, who died of cancer in October.

Sanders’ performance Tuesday was boosted by a five-way race between GOP candidates, but he builds on the gains made in a different special election in September that also covered parts of Cherokee County. Though she ultimately lost, Democrat Debra Shigley improved 9 percentage points compared with the Democrat who ran in 2024.

“We showed up in a county that had solid red demographics and solid red history, and we actually made a blue showing,” Sanders said. “I’m stoked.”

Fincher said he hopes to unite Republicans around his bid.

“I’m hoping to achieve as much cooperation as I can,” he said. “We really feel like we can win.”

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