Georgia Senate Race Revives North Atlanta’s Ticket-Splitting Question
In 2022, North Atlanta voters showed clear ticket-splitting, favoring Brian Kemp in the governor's race over Herschel Walker in the Senate contest. This pattern poses questions for the 2026 Senate race, where candidate-specific voting could again influence results in a region with diverse political dynamics.
Get major local stories and development updates.
In 2022, Brian Kemp and Herschel Walker appeared on the same Georgia ballot. Both were Republicans, but voters did not support them in equal numbers.
The difference was especially clear in the three counties surrounding North Atlanta. Kemp received 72.35% of the gubernatorial vote in Forsyth County, while Walker received 64.81% in the Senate contest. Kemp ran almost six percentage points ahead of Walker in both Fulton and Gwinnett counties.
Those results provide useful local context as questions grow around Republican Mike Collins’s campaign against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. A new Wall Street Journal examination focused on campaign controversies, fundraising and concern among Republican strategists that Collins could affect other candidates on the November ballot.
The North Atlanta question is more specific: Will voters once again treat the Senate race differently from the rest of their ballot?
The 2022 gap was substantial
Kemp defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams statewide in 2022 with 53.41% of the vote. Walker received 48.49% in the Senate race held that same day and was forced into a runoff against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
The differences were wider locally.
In Forsyth County, Kemp received 74,116 votes, or 72.35%. Walker received 66,013 votes, or 64.81%. Warnock, meanwhile, received 32.25% of the Forsyth vote, compared with 26.78% for Abrams.
In Gwinnett County, Kemp captured 44.44%, while Walker received 38.59%. Warnock’s 58.95% exceeded Abrams’s 54.78%.
Fulton County produced a similar separation. Kemp received 30.52%, while Walker received 24.57%. Warnock finished with 73.55%, compared with 68.85% for Abrams. The Fulton County election summary and Georgia’s certified historical results show the same pattern: Republican support was stronger in the governor’s race, while Democratic support was stronger in the Senate race.
County totals cannot reveal exactly how each person completed a secret ballot. Some voters chose a Libertarian candidate, skipped a contest or voted differently for reasons unrelated to either campaign. Still, the same-day differences are consistent with substantial ticket splitting and candidate-specific voting.
They also show why one statewide candidate’s performance does not automatically determine how voters will handle the rest of the ballot.
North Atlanta is not one political market
The three counties tell very different political stories. Forsyth remained strongly Republican in 2022. Gwinnett voted Democratic in both major statewide races. Fulton’s totals include heavily Democratic Atlanta and South Fulton as well as the more politically mixed communities of North Fulton.
That makes countywide Fulton numbers an imperfect substitute for Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton and Roswell. A closer examination of precinct-level returns would be needed to isolate those communities. Even so, the broader regional pattern is clear: voters distinguished between candidates carrying the same party label.
That distinction is relevant in 2026 because the Senate race will share the ballot with an open governor’s race and numerous statewide and legislative contests. Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson are running for governor, while Ossoff, Collins and Libertarian Allen Buckley are competing for the Senate seat. The current Georgia general-election candidate list also includes contested state House races affecting parts of North Fulton, Suwanee, Sugar Hill, Duluth and the Buford area.
A strong Republican performance in one contest therefore does not guarantee an identical result in another. The same is true for Democrats.
Money creates another sharp difference
Ossoff enters the final campaign stretch with a considerable financial advantage. His campaign reported $77.3 million in receipts from January 2025 through June 2026 and approximately $42.6 million remaining, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Collins’s campaign committee reported about $6.5 million in receipts during the same period and $2 million on hand. Those totals do not include every dollar that political parties and outside organizations may spend in the race, but they give Ossoff substantially more direct control over advertising, field operations and voter contact.
Money alone does not determine how ballots are cast. It does determine how often each campaign can reach voters, including the large population of suburban voters along the GA-400 corridor and across northeast Gwinnett.
What to watch locally
The most revealing North Atlanta comparison will not simply be whether Ossoff or Collins carries a county. It will be the distance between each Senate candidate and the other candidates from the same party.
If the Republican nominee for governor runs ahead of Collins in Forsyth, north Fulton or northeast Gwinnett, the result would resemble the Kemp-Walker separation of 2022. If Collins performs in line with the rest of the Republican ticket, it would indicate more uniform party voting. The same comparison applies to Ossoff and Democratic candidates.
Precinct returns from Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton, Roswell, South Forsyth, Suwanee, Sugar Hill and Duluth will provide a more useful picture than statewide totals alone. They can show where candidate identity still influences the ballot and where party alignment has become more decisive.
The 2022 results do not predict what North Atlanta voters will do in November. They establish something more limited but important: these voters have not always treated every candidate from the same party alike.
More worth reading from around here.
About the Author
Good Friend Mortgage
Good Friend Mortgage has spent 21 years turning hopes into homes. With unmatched service, expert guidance, and a dedication to your future, we make...
Notice an update, correction, or detail we should include? Tell the editor. Seen something new around you? Send us a local tip.
Most Popular
Siemens’ Alpharetta Rail Operation Is Hiring From $20 an Hour to $95,000 a YearBusiness & Development
Alpharetta’s NHL Arena Study Forecasts 1.2 Million Visitors—but Leaves Key Questions UnansweredBusiness & Development
