The 2026 elections for the Georgia Senate will take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, to elect state senators from all 56 districts.
Retirements Democratic District 10: Emanuel Jones is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. District 14: Josh McLaurin is running for Lieutenant Governor.
Republican District 19: Blake Tillery is running for Lieutenant Governor. District 27: Greg Dolezal is running for Lieutenant Governor. District 42: Brian Strickland is running for Attorney General. District 46: Bill Cowsert is running for Attorney General. District 51: Steve Gooch is running for Lieutenant Governor.
Special elections Five special elections were held during the 158th Georgia General Assembly.
2025 Senate district 21 A special election was held on August 21, 2025, in Senate District 21 to fill the vacancy left by Republican Brandon Beach's resignation on May 4, 2025, to become treasurer of the United States. As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election between Democrat Debra Shigley and Republican Jason Dickerson was held on September 23, 2025, with Dickerson winning to serve the remainder of the 158th Georgia State Senate.
Senate district 35 A special election was held on November 18, 2025, in Senate District 35 to fill the vacancy left by Democratic Jason Esteves's resignation on September 10, 2025, to focus on his campaign for governor. As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election between Democrats Jaha Howard and Roger Bruce was held on December 16, 2025, with Howard winning to serve the remainder of the 158th Georgia State Senate.
2026 Senate district 18 A special election was held on January 20, 2026, in Senate District 18 to fill the vacancy left by Republican John F. Kennedy's resignation on December 8, 2025, to focus on his campaign for lieutenant governor. As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election between Democrat LeMario Nicholas Brown and Republican Steven McNeel was held on February 17, 2026, with McNeel winning to serve the remainder of the 158th Georgia State Senate.
Senate district 53 A special election was held on March 10, 2026, in Senate District 53 to fill the vacancy left by Republican Colton Moore's resignation on January 13, 2026, to focus on his campaign for Georgia's 14th congressional district. As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election between Republican Lanny Thomas and Democrat John Bentley "Jack" Zibluk was held on April 7, 2026, with Thomas winning to serve the remainder of the 158th Georgia State Senate.
Senate district 7 A special election was held on May 19, 2026, in Senate District 7 to fill the vacancy left by Democrat Nabilah Parkes's resignation on March 13, 2026, to focus on her campaign for lieutenant governor. As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election between Republican Aizaz Shahbaz Shaikh and Democrat Adrienne White was held on June 16, 2026, with White winning to serve the remainder of the 158th Georgia State Senate. The election and runoff took place concurrently with the regularly-scheduled state primary and primary runoff elections. During the runoff, there were more high-profile races in the Republican primary than the Democratic primary, significantly boosting Republican turnout relative to the first round, leading to fears among Democrats that this turnout could carry Shaikh to victory, flipping the seat. White heavily campaigned during the final days of the race, including with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms, to prevent the seat from flipping, winning a narrow victory.
Predictions The Atlanta Journal-Constitution identified Senate District 48 among five districts most likely to flip from Republican to Democratic control in 2026.
SourceRankingAs of Sabato's Crystal Ball January 22, 2026State NavigateAugust 27, 2026
Results summary denotes a retiring incumbent. District Incumbent PartyElectedParty 1st Ben Watson Rep 2nd Derek Mallow Dem Derek Mallow Dem 3rd Mike Hodges Rep Mike Hodges Rep 4th Billy Hickman Rep Billy Hickman Rep 5th Sheikh Rahman Dem Sheikh Rahman Dem 6th Matt Brass Rep 7th Adrienne White Dem 8th Russ Goodman Rep Russ Goodman Rep 9th Nikki Merritt Dem 10th Emanuel Jones Dem 11th Sam Watson Rep Sam Watson Rep 12th Freddie Sims Dem Edward Brown Dem 13th Carden Summers Rep Carden Summers Rep 14th Josh McLaurin Dem 15th Ed Harbison Dem 16th Marty Harbin Rep 17th Gail Davenport Dem Gail Davenport Dem 18th Steven McNeel Rep Steven McNeel Rep 19th Blake Tillery Rep 20th Larry Walker III Rep Larry Walker III Rep 21st Jason Dickerson Rep 22nd Harold V. Jones II Dem Harold V. Jones II Dem 23rd Max Burns Rep 24th Lee Anderson Rep 25th Rick Williams Rep Rick Williams Rep 26th David Lucas Dem 27th Greg Dolezal Rep 28th Donzella James Dem Donzella James Dem 29th Rep 30th Tim Bearden Rep 31st Jason Anavitarte Rep 32nd Kay Kirkpatrick Rep 33rd Michael Rhett Dem Michael Rhett Dem 34th Kenya Wicks Dem Kenya Wicks Dem 35th Jaha Howard Dem Jaha Howard Dem 36th Nan Orrock Dem 37th Ed Setzler Rep 38th RaShaun Kemp Dem 39th Sonya Halpern Dem 40th Sally Harrell Dem 41st Kim Jackson Dem 42nd Brian Strickland Rep 43rd Tonya Anderson Dem Tonya Anderson Dem 44th Elena Parent Dem 45th Clint Dixon Rep 46th Bill Cowsert Rep 47th Frank Ginn Rep 48th Shawn Still Rep 49th Drew Echols Rep 50th Bo Hatchett Rep 51st Steve Gooch Rep 52nd Chuck Hufstetler Rep Chuck Hufstetler Rep 53rd Lanny Thomas Rep 54th Chuck Payne Rep Chuck Payne Rep 55th Randal Mangham Dem 56th John Albers Rep
District 1
The first Senate district is in Southeast Georgia encompassing most of Savannah's southern and eastern suburbs, as well as a sliver of Savannah itself. The district includes all of Bryan and Liberty counties. The district also includes coastal and southwestern Chatham County.
The incumbent for this seat is Ben Watson, a Republican, first elected in 2014, winning the general election unopposed. He is running for re-election. Republican Donald Trump won this district with 56.8 percent of the vote at the 2024 presidential election.
See also 2026 Georgia elections U.S. Senate U.S. House Governor Lieutenant Governor
References