# 2010 Georgia gubernatorial election

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The 2010 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican governor Sonny Perdue was term-limited and unable to seek re-election. Primary elections for the Republican and Democratic parties took place on July 20. Democrats nominated former governor Roy Barnes, and Republicans nominated Representative Nathan Deal following a runoff on August 10. The Libertarian Party also had ballot access and nominated John Monds. Deal won the general election, and took office on January 10, 2011.
As of 2024, this was the last election in which a candidate won the governorship by double digits. This is the first gubernatorial election in Georgia since 1990 in which the winner was of a different party than the incumbent president. This was the first election in which Republicans won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state. This was the last gubernatorial election in which Douglas, Henry, and Newton counties voted for the Republican candidate and the last in which Baker, Early, Mitchell, Peach, Clinch, Brooks, and McIntosh counties voted for the Democratic candidate.

## Republican primary
### Candidates
#### Declared

* Jeff Chapman, State Senator
* Nathan Deal, U.S. representative
* Karen Handel, Secretary of State of Georgia
* Eric Johnson, former state senator
* Ray McBerry, candidate for governor in 2006
* John Oxendine, insurance commissioner
* Otis Putnam

#### Declined

* Johnny Isakson, incumbent U.S. senator

### Polling
#### Primary

| Poll source | Dates administered | John Oxendine | Karen Handel | Nathan Deal | Eric Johnson | Ray McBerry | Austin Scott | Jeff Chapman | Undecided |
| Magellan Strategies | July 18, 2010 | 12% | 38% | 20% | 17% | 3% | – | 3% | 7% |
| InsiderAdvantage | July 14, 2010 | 15% | 24% | 16% | 13% | 3% | – | 6% | 22% |
| Rasmussen Reports | July 13, 2010 | 20% | 25% | 25% | 13% | – | – | – | 14% |
| Mason-Dixon | July 8–13, 2010 | 31% | 23% | 18% | 6% | 2% | – | 1% | 19% |
| Magellan Strategies | July 8, 2010 | 18% | 32% | 18% | 8% | 3% | – | 3% | 14% |
| Survey USA | July 7–8, 2010 | 32% | 23% | 12% | 12% | 5% | – | 4% | 10% |
| InsiderAdvantage | July 1, 2010 | 18% | 18% | 12% | 8% | 3% | – | 6% | 34% |
| Survey USA | June 14–17, 2010 | 34% | 18% | 17% | 6% | 3% | – | 4% | 17% |
| InsiderAdvantage | April 5, 2010 | 26% | 18% | 9% | 5% | – | – | – | 31% |
| Rasmussen Reports | December 15, 2009 | 28% | 14% | 13% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 32% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 20, 2009 | 27% | 12% | 9% | 3% | 3% | 3% | -- | 35% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 18, 2009 | 31% | 13% | 13% | 3% | 2% | -- | -- | 31% |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 17, 2009 | 33% | 11% | 10% | 3% | 2% | 2% | -- | 33% |
| Strategic Vision | June 17, 2009 | 35% | 13% | 12% | 4% | 2% | 2% | -- | 32% |

#### Runoff

| Poll source | Dates administered | Nathan Deal | Karen Handel |
| Landmark Communications | August 7, 2010 | 44% | 42% |
| Georgia Newspapers | August 7, 2010 | 42% | 47% |
| Insider Advantage | August 5, 2010 | 46% | 46% |
| Landmark Communications | August 2, 2010 | 37% | 46% |
| McLaughlin & Associates | July 23, 2010 | 39% | 38% |

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Karen Handel | 231,990 | 34.1 |
| | Republican | Nathan Deal | 155,946 | 22.9 |
| | Republican | Eric Johnson | 136,792 | 20.1 |
| | Republican | John Oxendine | 115,421 | 17.0 |
| | Republican | Jeff Chapman | 20,636 | 3.0 |
| | Republican | Ray McBerry | 17,171 | 2.5 |
| | Republican | Otis Putnam | 2,543 | 0.4 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 680,499 | 100.0 |
Republican primary runoff results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Nathan Deal | 291,035 | 50.2 |
| | Republican | Karen Handel | 288,516 | 49.8 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 579,551 | 100.0 |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Declared

* Thurbert Baker, Attorney General of Georgia
* Roy Barnes, former governor of Georgia
* Bill Bolton
* Carl Camon
* Randal Mangham, state representative
* DuBose Porter, state representative
* David Poythress, former adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard, former commissioner of labor and candidate for governor in 1998

### Polling

| Poll source | Dates administered | Roy Barnes | Thurbert Baker | DuBose Porter | Carl Camon | David Poythress | Undecided |
| Rasmussen Reports | July 13, 2010 | 59% | 16% | 5% | -- | 5% | 12% |
| Mason-Dixon | July 8–13, 2010 | 54% | 20% | 3% | -- | 7% | 16% |
| Survey USA | July 7–8, 2010 | 56% | 18% | 6% | 3% | 5% | 9% |
| Survey USA | June 14–17, 2010 | 63% | 13% | 4% | 1% | 5% | 11% |
| InsiderAdvantage | April 7, 2010 | 47% | 18% | 5% | – | 6% | 24% |
| Rasmussen Reports | December 18, 2009 | 48% | 17% | 3% | 1% | 4% | 19% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 20, 2009 | 43% | 19% | 4% | 3% | 4% | 21% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 18, 2009 | 42% | 9% | 7% | 1% | 2% | 30% |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 17, 2009 | 48% | 8% | 5% | 2% | 2% | 31% |
| Strategic Vision | June 17, 2009 | 49% | 30% | 2% | - | 5% | 14% |

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Roy Barnes | 259,482 | 65.6 |
| | Democratic | Thurbert Baker | 85,571 | 21.6 |
| | Democratic | David Poythress | 21,780 | 5.5 |
| | Democratic | DuBose Porter | 17,767 | 4.5 |
| | Democratic | Carl Camon | 4,170 | 1.1 |
| | Democratic | Bill Bolton | 3,573 | 0.9 |
| | Democratic | Randal Mangham | 3,124 | 0.8 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 395,497 | 100.0 |

## Third party and independent candidates
### Independent

* Neal Horsley

### Libertarian Party

* John Monds, president of the Grady County NAACP

### Write-in

* Samuel M. "Sam" Hay, III
* Jacob Perasso (Socialist Workers Party)

## General election
### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Cook Political Report | Tossup | October 14, 2010 |
| Rothenberg | Lean R | October 28, 2010 |
| RealClearPolitics | Lean R | November 1, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Lean R | October 28, 2010 |
| CQ Politics | Lean R | October 28, 2010 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Dates administered | Nathan Deal (R) | Roy Barnes (D) | John Monds (L) | Other | Undecided |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 24, 2010 | 49% | 39% | 5% | 5% | 1% |
| Insider Advantage | Unavailable | 49% | 41% | 3% | -- | 7% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 6, 2010 | 50% | 41% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Insider Advantage | September 27, 2010 | 45% | 37% | 5% | -- | 13% |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 21, 2010 | 45% | 39% | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| Insider Advantage | September 16, 2010 | 42% | 42% | 5% | -- | 11% |
| Survey USA | September 10–12, 2010 | 49% | 38% | 9% | -- | 4% |
| Insider Advantage | August 17, 2010 | 45% | 41% | 5% | -- | 9% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 11, 2010 | 51% | 42% | -- | 3% | 3% |
| Rasmussen Reports | July 21, 2010 | 49% | 43% | -- | 4% | 4% |
| Rasmussen Reports | May 20, 2010 | 47% | 40% | -- | 6% | 7% |
| Rasmussen Reports | April 22, 2010 | 46% | 39% | -- | 7% | 8% |
| Rasmussen Reports | March 17, 2010 | 43% | 41% | -- | 5% | 13% |
| Public Policy Polling | February 26–28, 2010 | 38% | 43% | -- | -- | 19% |
| Rasmussen Reports | February 18, 2010 | 43% | 37% | -- | -- | -- |
| Rasmussen Reports | January 20, 2010 | 42% | 43% | -- | -- | -- |

### Results

2010 Georgia gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Nathan Deal | 1,365,832 | 53.02% | −4.93% |
| | Democratic | Roy Barnes | 1,107,011 | 42.97% | +4.75% |
| | Libertarian | John Monds | 103,194 | 4.01% | +0.17% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 124 | 0.00% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,576,161 | 100.00% | N/A |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Early (largest city: Blakely)
* McIntosh (largest municipality: Darien)
* Peach (largest municipality: Fort Valley)
* Lowndes (largest city: Valdosta)
* Burke (largest municipality: Waynesboro)
* Chatham (largest city: Savannah)
* Washington (largest municipality: Sandersville)
* Sumter (largest city: Americus)
* Jefferson (largest city: Louisville)
* Muscogee (largest city: Columbus)
* Rockdale (largest town: Conyers)