The order, issued from the bench by Superior Court Senior Judge David Sweat, gives state Rep. Dan Gasaway, R-Homer, a second shot at retaining the office he has held for three terms. At the end of a six-hour trial, a senior judge in Banks County on Tuesday declared the May 22 Republican primary for state House District 28 invalid and ordered a new primary election slated for December.

Republican opponent Chris Erwin narrowly beat Gasaway by 67 votes in the May primary, finishing with 3,111 votes to Gasaway’s 3,044. The district includes parts of Habersham, Banks, and Stephens counties in northeast Georgia.