Seven candidates are running in the Democratic primary in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District on May 21, 2024. Two lead in local media attention: incumbent Rep. David Scott (D) and Marcus Flowers (D).
First elected in 2002, Scott faced primary challenges in 2020 and 2022, winning 52.2% of the vote in 2020 and 65.7% in 2022. Scott’s last primary challenge before 2020 took place in 2014. According to Politico, Scott “is gearing up for a reelection campaign some of his fellow Democrats had hoped he wouldn’t pursue,” in light of what Politico describes as Scott’s colleagues’ “alarm about [his] health and what they describe as his declining capacity to negotiate the $1.5 trillion farm bill.” In a 2022 interview with Politico, Scott said, “Obviously I’m not retiring…I’m as strong and vibrant as a roaring lion.”
The primary is taking place in the context of court-ordered redistricting. Georgia adopted new congressional district maps in December 2023 after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ruled the maps adopted after the 2020 census did not include enough majority-Black districts. A Daily Kos analysis of the district lines found that Joe Biden (D) defeated Donald Trump (R) in the 2020 presidential election 79.7%–19.3% under the boundaries used for the 13th District in 2022 and 69.8%–29.2% under the 2024 boundaries.
Scott is running on his record, saying he has secured nearly $1.2 billion in federal funding for the district and resolved more than 18,000 cases on behalf of constituents. Scott says he will continue his work securing funding for historically Black agricultural colleges and expanding housing assistance programs.
Flowers is a U.S. Army veteran and former contractor who worked with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State. Flowers says he is running to represent a new generation of leaders and to oppose Trump: “It is about preserving democracy for generations. It’s about alerting people to the dangers that lie ahead of us, especially in the Black community.” Flowers ran in the 14th District in 2022, losing to Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) 65.9%–34.1%.
Also running in the primary are Mark Baker (D), Brian Johnson (D), Uloma Ekpete Kama (D), Rashid Malik (D), and Karen Rene (D). If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will advance to a June 18 runoff.
As of Apr. 18, 2024, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales each rated the general election Solid/Safe Democratic.
All 435 seats are up for election. Republicans have a 217 to 213 majority with five vacancies. As of April 2024, 43 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election.
