Penny Brown Reynolds will be Georgia's next secretary of state, the official who oversees elections in which Georgia residents vote.

Reynolds, a Democrat and former Fulton County judge, defeated Republican state Rep. Tim Fleming on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The Associated Press called the race at 10:40 p.m. that night, with Reynolds receiving 55.6% of the statewide vote, according to Fox 5 Atlanta, which cited AP tallies and the Georgia Secretary of State's Office. Those figures reflect election-night returns, not final certified results.

The win is historic. Reynolds becomes the first woman of color to hold the office, Atlanta News First reported. She is also the first Democrat to win the seat in nearly two decades, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

Georgia's secretary of state runs voter registration, manages elections statewide and certifies official results. For Georgia voters, the office oversees the elections in which they cast ballots each cycle.

Who is Penny Brown Reynolds?

Reynolds served as a Fulton County superior and state court judge, Atlanta News First reported. She briefly handled family court disputes on television. CBS News Atlanta reported her reality TV show, "Family Court with Judge Penny," ran for one season and received an Emmy Award nomination in 2009.

She later served in President Joe Biden's administration as deputy assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She also served as executive counsel to former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes, who endorsed her candidacy, CBS News Atlanta reported.

During the campaign, Reynolds emphasized expanding early voting sites and absentee ballot access and challenged claims that the state's elections were insecure, CBS News Atlanta reported.

What Reynolds inherits

Reynolds will replace outgoing Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who launched an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign rather than seek reelection.

Georgia is considering replacing its statewide voting system before the 2028 presidential election. A legislative committee must make recommendations by Jan. 31, 2027, so a new system can be in place for the 2028 cycle, according to CBS News Atlanta. Reynolds would help lead that process.

The state's current touch-screen machines print a paper ballot with a human-readable list of selections and a QR code that a scanner reads to count votes. Lawmakers barred QR codes from the official vote count after July 1, then extended that deadline to January 2027 after a special session created the study committee, CBS News Atlanta reported.

The opponent

Fleming, a state representative from Newton County, previously served as deputy secretary of state under Brian Kemp and later as Kemp's chief of staff, 11Alive reported. His campaign focused on election security and hand-marked paper ballots.

Fleming said irregularities occurred during the 2020 election, though he did not embrace President Donald Trump's false assertion that widespread fraud changed the outcome, WJCL reported. Multiple recounts confirmed Biden's 2020 Georgia victory, and state officials repeatedly defended the accuracy of the result, according to WJCL.

Reynolds favors electronic voting machines that produce paper records voters can review, WJCL reported.

The voting-system committee's Jan. 31, 2027, deadline will be one of the first major items on Reynolds' desk when she takes office.