Georgia primary election results
July 16, 2008 at 12:47 am by Ken Edelstein in NewsHere’s a quick rundown on the July 15 Georgia primary results. The big news was generated by high-stakes runoffs:
* U.S. senator: The two experienced Democrats — Vernon Jones and Joe Martin — vanquished three first-time candidates and will face each other in an Aug. 5 runoff. With 91 percent of precincts counted, DeKalb CEO Jones won 40 percent of the vote, while Martin got 35 percent. Martin — who entered the race late and has been criticized for a lackluster campaign — may have a slight edge in the runoff: He has more money in the bank, he seems more likely to pick up support from supporters of other candidates, and his largely white base historically shows up for runoffs better than does Jones’ base of black voters. What does Jones have going for him? A runoff in the contest for who will replace him as DeKalb CEO could spur turnout in his home county. The winner takes on Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in November.
* DeKalb County CEO: The contest for the most powerful local government post in the state heads for a runoff as well, although DeKalb Commissioner Burrell Ellis turned out an impressive showing with 46 percent of the vote. No surprise that he’ll face well-liked state Rep. Stan Watson in the runoff. But a 20 point head start has gotta give Ellis the edge.
* Fulton County sheriff: Three challengers were battling each other to a near draw to see who would face incumbent Myron Freeman in a runoff. Former FBI honcho Theodore Jackson, longtime East Point cop Frank Brown and former police union official Charles Rambo were running at 17, 16 and 15 percent respectively. The official results could end up close enough to require a recount. Although he came in first with 30 percent, the results bode poorly for Freeman: When incumbents are forced into a runoff, you gotta assume that the majority of voters (in this case a wopping 70 percent) were opting for somebody different.
* Clayton County: Torturously, most local posts in the troubled county south of Atlanta — commission chairman, DA, much of the school board, etc. — were headed for runoffs. But controversial Sheriff Victor Hill appeared to have squeaked by without a runoff — more evidence that we just shouldn’t have elected sheriffs in Georgia.
And then there were some convincing victories:
* Public Service Commission: Democrat Jim Powell must have turned into some sort of folk hero after Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel tried to strike him from the ballot despite a judge’s ruling. Or he just plain ran a good race. He stomped Bob Indech by more than 70 points. Meanwhile, over on the Republican side, utility pal Lauren McDonald had a surprisingly hard time against environmental activist Pam Davidson. Impressively, Powell won more than 330,000 votes — and about 150,000 more than McDonald got; that could mean at least one Democrat has a chance in a statewide race in November. In the contest for the other PSC seat that’s open, incumbent utility pal Doug Everett easily beat a challenger, and Democrats failed to field an opponent for Everett in the General Election.
* Congress: Democratic incumbents John Barrow, John Lewis, Jim Marshall and David Scott, and Republican Paul Broun easily turned back challenges from members of their own parties. While several Georgia congressmen face opposition in the fall, Barrow and Marshall are the only two that really face tough races because they’re districts are pretty split. In Lewis 5th district, first-time candidate and activist Markel Hutchins was running ahead of longtime politician Able Mable Thomas — but both were running in the teens.
* General Assembly: Atlanta senators Nan Orrock and Horceana Tate easily turned back challengers, as did Rep. Margaret Kaiser, while newcomer Rashad Taylor easily won Thomas’ west Atlanta house seat.
I know I’m missing some important races. Please let me/us know in a comment if you have any contests you think need to be mentioned, or any other thoughts on the primary.
UPDATE: Dunwoody cityhood: I neglected to mention last night that Dunwoody voters by a 4-to-1 margin opted to become a city.
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July 21st, 2008 at 9:55 am
I would like to see perhaps a chart-like layout of all the DeKalb Co. primary winners. Thanks.