The vacancy was created by the death of incumbent RepublicanCharlie Norwood.[2] Norwood won reelection in 2006 with 67% of the vote.
Since this is a nonpartisan special election, all candidates for the election were listed alphabetically, though their party affiliations are noted on the ballot.[3] According to Georgia law, to win outright, a candidate needed a majority vote; since no candidate won more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers competed in a runoff election on July 17, 2007.
Candidates
The following candidates were on the June 19 ballot.[3][4] They are listed here alphabetically: first by party, then by name.
Democratic
Denise Freeman – Baptist minister and 1998/2000 Democratic nominee
No candidate received a majority in the June 19 election so a runoff between RepublicansJim Whitehead and Paul Broun was held on July 17. Democrat James Marlow, the third-place finisher, had the right to request a recount within 48 hours of the official certification of the election results on June 25, 2007, due to the very small difference in total votes for himself and Broun,[5] but did not do so.[6]
The official returns for the June 19 election and the July 17 run-off are: