CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. – Polls closed at 7 p.m. in Georgia’s primary runoff election, where voters helped decide who would appear on the November ballot in several key races — including the governor’s race, the U.S. Senate race, and the 1st Congressional District seat left vacant by Congressman Buddy Carter.
Turnout was lower than the original primary, but the voters who did show up were exactly who you’d expect in a runoff: the diehards.
News4JAX spoke with voters in Camden County as election day came to a close. Several of them were repeat faces — people who had also spoken with during last month’s primary.
Among them were Howard and Kathleen Schultz, who said returning for the runoff was a matter of principle.
“I guess just to reassert what we picked — the people we picked last time, are they still on there? So yes, they are. Let’s pick them again so they get to the final,” Howard Schultz said. “It’s part of the job of being a citizen.”
His wife, Kathleen, said her commitment to voting has grown over time.
“I just feel it’s my duty now, where before I wasn’t interested, but now I’m more interested the older I got,” she said.
Evelyn Taylor has been casting ballots for more than 40 years and said the message is simple: if you don’t vote, you lose your voice.
“You learn without voting, you don’t have a voice. That’s the only voice you have in America is to vote, and I encourage everyone to go out and vote because if you vote, you have a voice,” Taylor said.
Kevin Collins echoed that sentiment, framing it as the only real path to change.
“If you want to change what’s going on in the country and you don’t like it, you have to vote,” Collins said.
Howard Schultz had a pointed message for anyone who skipped the runoff.
“Don’t be mad if somebody gets in there that you don’t like how they want to run things,” he said.
Results from the Georgia primary runoff are expected as vote counts are tallied.