NEWTON COUNTY — Newton County’s Sharon Henderson was unable to unseat five-time incumbent Tonya Anderson in the State Senate, District 43 Democratic primary on Tuesday.

Henderson qualified for the seat in March after foregoing a reelection bid in her current District 113 Georgia House of Representatives seat. But she faced an uphill battle due to Anderson’s status as a five-time incumbent as well as her current suspension from the General Assembly due to her role in a federal indictment.

Anderson won comfortably with 24,603 votes (72.58%). Henderson finished in second with 7,027 votes (20.73%), while Donald Ferguson finished in a distant third with 2,266 votes (6.69%).

Henderson’s local status did not help her, as she was outvoted 2,352-1,171 in Newton County.

With no Republican challenger, Anderson is set to enter her sixth term in office starting in January.

As for the other State Senate, District 42, Bret Dunn and Eric Lee won the Republican and Democratic nominations after running unopposed. 

Lee earned a slight advantage with 224 more votes overall. In Newton County, however, Lee earned 3,436 more votes.

Both men will advance to the November general election, where the winner will succeed Brian Strickland, who won the Republican nomination for Georgia Attorney General.