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.
