2020 Georgia Public Service Commission election

2020-21 Georgia Public Service Commission District 4 election

← 2014 November 3, 2020 (first round) January 5, 2021 (runoff) 2028 →

Candidate Bubba McDonald Daniel Blackman Party Republican Democratic First round 2,415,248 49.91% 2,272,969 46.97% Runoff 2,234,689 50.38% 2,200,962 49.62%

First round county results First round precinct results Runoff county results Runoff congressional district results Runoff precinct results McDonald:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Blackman:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%

Commissioner before election Bubba McDonald Republican Elected Commissioner Bubba McDonald Republican

Incumbent Republican Commissioner Bubba McDonald ran for a fourth term in the Public Service Commission and was challenged by Democrat Daniel Blackman.^[4] Were he to win, Blackman would become only the second African-American member on the Commission in its history, with Democrat David Burgess having served from 1999 until his defeat in a 2006 runoff by Republican Chuck Eaton. Burgess was also the last Democrat to serve on the commission, with McDonald having changed his party affiliation after first being elected. Blackman and McDonald previously ran against each other for District 4 in 2014.^[9]

• Daniel Blackman, senior vice president for environmental affairs and sustainability, CFBA.^[4]
• John Noel, small business owner.^[10]

Democratic primary results^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Daniel Blackman	762,740	71.64%
	Democratic	John Noel	301,948	28.36%
Total votes			1,064,688	100%

• Bubba McDonald, incumbent Commissioner.^[4]

Republican primary results^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bubba McDonald (incumbent)	929,919	100%
Total votes			929,919	100%

• Nathan Wilson, project manager.^[7]

Georgia Public Service Commission District 4 election, 2020^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bubba McDonald (incumbent)	2,415,248	49.91%
	Democratic	Daniel Blackman	2,272,969	46.97%
	Libertarian	Nathan Wilson	151,196	3.12%
Total votes			4,839,413	100%

Georgia Public Service Commission District 4 runoff election, 2021^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bubba McDonald (incumbent)	2,234,689	50.38%
	Democratic	Daniel Blackman	2,200,962	49.62%
Total votes			4,435,651	100%
	Republican hold

Bubba McDonald, the Republican incumbent in the race, won the January 5th runoff by 33,727 votes over Democratic challenger Daniel Blackman.^[15] The down-ballot race was an anomaly, due to Commissioner McDonald receiving more total votes than any other Republican on the runoff ballot. Republican Incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler both lost their respective races to Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.^[16] After the runoff election, Daniel Blackman alleged the race may have been missing from some ballots, after receiving reports from voters.^[17] While "Blackman trailed Republican incumbent Lauren “Bubba” McDonald by over 33,000 votes, or 0.74 percentage points, outside the margin where he'd be entitled to a recount," the Georgia Secretary of State opened an investigation into the matter.^[17]

After the investigation, as stated in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Georgia election officials say they found no evidence that the Public Service Commission race was left off some ballots, and Democrat Daniel Blackman acknowledged Wednesday that he had lost to Republican Lauren “Bubba” McDonald." Walter Jones, the spokesman for the Georgia Secretary of State's office stated, “We have learned from 2018 to now — from Stacey Abrams to Donald Trump — that false claims and disinformation that an election has been stolen is dangerous to our democracy” In the same AJC article, it was mentioned that "Blackman never alleged the PSC election was stolen, saying he wanted to make sure that every vote was counted."^[18]

• 2021 Georgia runoff election