Republican John Cowan, a neurosurgeon and small-business owner, is projected to win Georgia's 11th Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ, defeating Democratic attorney Chris Harden in the race for the open seat.
With 76 percent of the vote counted as of Tuesday night, Cowan held a lead of just under eight percentage points, 53.8 percent to 46.2 percent. The district, covering parts of Cobb, Cherokee, Bartow, Gordon, and Pickens counties, has long been a Republican stronghold. President Trump carried it by roughly 23 points in 2024, and outgoing Rep. Barry Loudermilk won reelection that year by nearly 35 points.
Cowan will succeed Loudermilk, who has represented the northwest Georgia district since 2015 and announced he would not seek reelection. Trump endorsed Cowan in July, calling him an “America First Patriot” who would “Advance Election Integrity” and promising to cut taxes and expand domestic energy production.
This is Cowan's second bid for Congress. In 2020, he ran in Georgia's neighboring 14th District, advancing to a Republican primary runoff before losing to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. He returned to the race after Loudermilk's retirement announcement, entering a crowded seven-way Republican primary that included Loudermilk's former chief of staff, Rob Adkerson, whom Loudermilk had favored as his successor.
Cowan led the May primary with nearly 43 percent of the vote, followed by Adkerson with about 22 percent. Former Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore finished third and did not advance. In the June runoff, Cowan defeated Adkerson decisively, winning 65 percent to 35 percent, despite Adkerson's backing from Loudermilk.
Harden, a Woodstock attorney, ran a competitive campaign but could not overcome the district's deep Republican tilt. The race was one of several in Georgia this cycle; elsewhere, Houston Gaines won the 10th District and Clark took the 13th District in a special election. Meanwhile, the Georgia Senate race between Ossoff and Collins remained too close to call, and voters also decided the governor's race as Kemp's term ends.
Cowan, who has practiced medicine in Georgia for more than a decade, graduated from Davidson College and earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University before completing his neurosurgery residency at the University of Michigan. His victory adds to the GOP's hold on the district, and he is expected to align closely with Trump's agenda in Washington.
