The Georgia Secretary of State’s website is currently reporting Carter with 5,559 votes, or 65.6 percent of the vote.
The state’s largest LGBT advocacy group endorsed Carter over three other candidates in the race.
“I’m really excited and honored by the endorsement,” Carter told Georgia Voice at the time.
“LGBT issues are important to this district and important to me,” he said.
“The most important thing for the LGBT community, and everyone else, is to seek out new coalitions for building broad support,” he added.
“There are issues that Georgia Equality deals with, such as HIV/AIDS, that are ripe for new coalitions, where new partnerships can be formed that maybe weren’t there in the past and where there have not been good advocates. We can grow the support for other issues … in the LGBT community in particular.”
Carter faced off against fellow Democrat Tom Stubbs as well as Independent Steve Patrick, who is openly gay, and Libertarian David Montane. Stubbs and Montane also reached out to gay voters.
It appears the candidates are headed for a rematch despite today’s results. Both Stubbs and Carter qualified to run for a full term representing Senate District 42.
Party primaries are set for July 20 and the general election will be Nov. 2.
Independent candidates did not have to qualify during the April 26-30 window, and Patrick said on his website that he intends to run again as well.
With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, the Georgia Secretary of State showed Stubbs with 1,948 votes, or 23 percent. Montane had 635 votes, or 7.5 percent, while Patrick finished with 327 votes, or 3.9 percent.
The DeKalb-based seat was left open when former Sen. David Adelman was appointed ambassador to Singapore. The winner will fill the remainder of Adelman’s term, which, like all seats in the Georgia General Assembly, is up for election this year.