Late Georgia congressman’s daughter among those competing to finish his term

Voters in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District are voting in a special election to fill the remainder of late Congressman David Scott’s term, whose seat was vacant after he died in late April.

Three Democrats and two Republicans are vying to represent the metro Atlanta seat that was drawn to be a safe blue seat. One former candidate, Democrat Tony Brown, will still appear on the ballot, according to a spokesperson from the state Secretary of State, but he was disqualified and votes for him will not be counted.

Late Congressman David Scott honored at Georgia’s Capitol 

Scott died in April after serving in Congress for more than two decades. He had qualified in early March to serve another term. 

The special election being held now will decide who finishes Scott’s current term. Early voting is underway, and if no single candidate gets a majority of the vote on July 28, a runoff election between the two top vote getters will be held on August 25. The winner will serve a few months before the next term begins in January.

Marcye Scott, a computer science consultant and daughter of the late congressman, is hoping to finish out her father’s term. In a phone interview, Scott said her candidacy is centered on providing continuity for the district’s constituents, saying that she would focus on ensuring that funding for earmarked projects that the late congressman requested reaches the district. She also said she intends to keep her father’s existing staff both in Washington and Georgia to help provide stability.

“That is my thing, is to finish out his year strongly, make sure that this money gets down to the district, and just make sure the 13th district is taken care of, constituency-wise, and making sure the projects go into finalization,” Scott said.

Scott also said that she’s known the district since its inception in 2002 when she first campaigned alongside her father, and that she already has established relationships with local leaders.

“Honestly, my dad, when he first got into politics, I wasn’t even born, so I ran for some type of office or campaign every two years of my life, so this is just my norm, I’m just picking up where we left off with him,” she said.

Former Gwinnett County School Board chair Everton Blair, the only candidate in the special election who ran in the primary election to serve a full term, said that aside from being the candidate who’s been running the longest for the seat after announcing his campaign in April 2025, he is the only Democrat running who lives in the district.

“None of these other people are proven, and that’s the benefit of having been elected before and being ready on day one, is not only have we been in this race for so long, people know my values because I’ve led the community before,” Blair said.

He said it’s important to have a representative who is “very keenly aware of the issues” impacting the district, even if the winner will only serve for a few months. Blair said that his campaign has been talking to constituents the longest and he knows best what they want from a member of Congress, saying they want a vocal advocate who will stand up to the Trump administration.

“This is not just about continuing the legacy of our previous member. It’s actually about giving the district the congressperson and the representation that it has long deserved, and that’s what I think we can deliver on in just a few months,” Blair said.

Former municipal judge Carlos Moore, who served in Mississippi but now practices law in Atlanta, described himself as a progressive Democrat and said his campaign focuses on criminal justice reform and protecting voting rights. Moore said as a judge he focused on offering non-incarceration sentences to youthful offenders and argued that his time on the bench and other experiences in advocacy are proof that he’s ready to serve the district immediately.

“I will be able to hit the ground running on day one, and we will do everything in our efforts to keep the good things that Congressman Scott was doing, keep them alive and keep them going, keep the money flowing to the district, and fighting to save democracy,” Moore said in an interview.

Georgia voters pick likely future congresswoman, send other hopefuls to runoffs

While this special election is intended to fill the late congressman’s term that expires in January, none of these candidates are on the November ballot for a full term. Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark snagged the party’s nomination in a crowded primary and will run against Jonathan Chavez, the sole Republican to qualify to run in November. Clark is expected to win easily in November. 

When asked about whether they would challenge Clark for a full term in 2028, all three Democrats said there’s too much uncertainty to make that decision now because of the likelihood of state lawmakers redrawing congressional district lines ahead of the 2028 election. But all three indicated that their work in the district would continue.

“What I do know is that whatever the case is, I’ve been blessed to build relationships and have community support that I’m not going to not be around. I’ll put it that way — whatever capacity that is,” Scott said.

There are two Republicans hoping to break through in the district that was drawn to be reliably Democratic by focusing on local economic and infrastructure issues.

Fayth Park, a 29-year-old entrepreneur and real estate investor from Rex, described herself as a moderate populist with traditional Republican values. She said she is concerned about what she sees as the unchecked growth of data centers, which she proposed halting across the country until the public is more informed about their impacts on the environment and energy prices.

“We should be seeing a lot of environmental impact studies done, and I believe at the federal level, representatives can put a lot of pressure on state and local representatives to push for these data center bans,” Park said. “I’m no expert in it or anything, but I am a mom, and I know that just by looking at what’s happening, these aren’t good for our neighborhoods.”

She said that if elected, she would also use her short time in Congress to advocate for releasing more of the Epstein files, saying that she “would really like to see justice for the victims” of the late sex offender. 

Caesar Gonzales, a 62-year-old Republican living in Winston, is making his third bid for the seat after running in 2020 and 2022. He said he is running to reverse what he described as a “20-plus-years decline” in the district under Democratic leadership. Despite the district’s Democratic leaning, he said that as a mixed-race Latino, he can relate to the experiences of the district’s constituents while pointing out that Democrats have focused too much on identity politics.

“I’m from the inner city. I grew up on the streets,” Gonzales said. “I can sit in any living room in the district and communicate with people. I’m relatable.”

“[Democrats are] compromising the viability of the community. They’re taking away opportunities for their own interests. We’ve had 23 years of this. It’s got to stop,” he added.