Chuck Payne and Debby Peppers

DALTON, Ga. — Turnout is expected to be key in Tuesday’s special election runoff for state Senate District 54.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Just 6.6 percent of registered voters, less than 5,000 total voters, turned out for the Dec. 13 special election for the seat for the district that includes all of Whitfield and Murray counties and parts of Gordon and Pickens counties. And turnout in runoffs is typically just a fraction of the turnout in the first election.

That means the race could swing on which candidate does the best job of getting his or her supporters out. The race includes Chuck Payne and Debby Peppers.

Payne, a former chairman of the Whitfield County Republican Party, received the most votes in the five-way special election with 1,792 (36.1 percent). Peppers, a former member of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, received the second most votes with 1,361 (27.42 percent).

Since no one in the special election received a majority of the vote, state law required the top two finishers to meet in a runoff to decide the winner.

Payne has focused on his conservative credentials while Peppers has said she would be an independent voice in the Legislature. The special election is nonpartisan but the candidates could list a party preference. Payne listed his party affiliation as Republican on the ballot. Peppers did not list an affiliation but has said she would caucus with the Democratic Party if elected.

The special election is being held because Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Charlie Bethel, a Republican from Dalton who had just been re-elected to the Senate seat in November, to the Georgia Court of Appeals. Bethel began those duties earlier this month.