Georgia Democratic Leaders to Pick Ballot Replacement for Late Congressman Lewis

Democratic Party leaders in the U.S. state of Georgia are gathering Monday to select a candidate to replace the late Congressman John Lewis in the November general election. A spokeswoman said 131 people applied by the Sunday evening deadline to be considered. A nominating committee will select between three and five finalists, and then a committee of 44 party figures will vote on the final candidate. The Democrat chosen will go up against Republican Angela Stanton-King in November. Lewis served 17 terms in Congress, and in 2016, the last time he faced a Republican challenger in his district, he won with 84% of the vote.FILE – This Jan. 3, 2019 file photo shows Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., during a swearing-in ceremony of Congressional Black Caucus members of the 116th Congress in Washington.Georgia’s governor has the power to call a special election to fill out the remaining months of Lewis’ current term. Lewis, a prominent champion of civil rights for African Americans, died Friday at the age of 80 after a yearlong battle with advanced stage pancreatic cancer. He rose to fame as a leader in the modern-day American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. At age 23, he worked closely with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was the last surviving keynote speaker from the August 1963 March on Washington, where King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. 
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