2025 YIR: Shigley Loses Second Race for the Legislature
Shigley won 39.5 percent of the primary vote, finishing well ahead of six Republicans, but not enough to win the seat outright.
Georgia Democrats were optimistic when Debra Shigley received the most votes in the Aug. 26 open primary in state Senate District 21, which takes in a large portion of Cherokee County and part of northern Fulton County.
Shigley won 39.5 percent of the primary vote, finishing well ahead of six Republicans, but not enough to win the seat outright, putting her in a runoff against Republican Jason Dickerson.
Democratic hopes of flipping the seat were dashed in the Sept. 23 runoff, as Dickerson captured 61.5 percent to Shigley’s 38.5 percent.
Voter turnout was 21 percent for the runoff, with nearly 31,000 votes cast. Turnout for the primary was 14 percent.
Even in defeat, though, Democrats saw a silver lining in Shigley’s performance in a district that President Donald Trump won by 34 percentage points in 2024.
Shigley’s loss left Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch as the lone Jewish member of the Georgia General Assembly, which reconvenes Jan. 12, 2026.
The runoff was held on Rosh Hashanah, scheduling that drew the ire of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta, but that met the state election law that a runoff be held four weeks after the primary.
In the runoff, Dickerson won 71.6 percent of the Cherokee County vote, creating a margin large enough to withstand Shigley taking 54.7 percent of the vote in Fulton County.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Dickerson spent approximately $750,000 of his own money in the primary and runoff races, while Shigley raised about $252,000.
In a post-runoff statement Shigley said: “I am incredibly proud of the campaign our team ran and thankful for every single person who volunteered their time fighting for a better Georgia. In May, we got off the sidelines and stood up, offering a vision for a better future for our children and our families. Despite the results, I am both proud and grateful for our efforts and will continue the work required to make the 21st District a better place for everyone to work and live in.”
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