McCormick defeats Trump-backed Evans in GOP 6th district runoff

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - Rich McCormick defeated Jake Evans in the GOP 6th Congressional District runoff on Tuesday.

McCormick will face Democrat Bob Christian in the Nov. 8 midterms in a contest that could, once again, help determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Former President Donald Trump held a Monday night tele-rally in support of Evans, to no electoral avail.

The 6th district is currently represented in Congress by Democratic incumbent Lucy McBath. However, after the 2020 census, McBath was drawn into a revamped, neighboring 7th district last year by Georgia’s GOP-led General Assembly.

McBath defeated fellow Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux in their May 24 primary. Bourdeaux was the 7th district’s incumbent.

Georgia’s 6th congressional district has been the electoral launching pad for the political careers of several of the nation’s most recognized political figures. Newt Gingrich, whose 1994 Contract With America campaign platform helped Republicans retake control of the U.S. House after 40 years of Democratic control, represented the district beginning in 1978.

Former U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson also represented the district, as did Tom Price, who resigned the post to become Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Donald Trump administration. That led to a special election between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff in 2017, a campaign that become the most expensive Congressional special election in U.S. history as it would help determine control of the U.S. House.

Handel won that race, but lost the seat to McBath one year later, in 2018′s general election. Meanwhile, Ossoff used his congressional campaign’s national profile to launch a successful U.S. Senate bid in 2020.

The district includes many of metro Atlanta’s northern suburbs, including the cities of Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville, Roswell, Johns Creek, Sandy Springs, Milton, Mountain Park, Dunwoody, Tucker, Alpharetta and Marietta.

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