While the May primary election drew 3,650 Oglethorpe County residents to the polls, a 29.3% turnout, local officials expected a drop for the June runoff.
“I think we’ll have probably about a 15% voter turnout,” said elections assistant Steve McCannon on Friday afternoon.
He was right.
Just 17.88% of registered voters turned out for the runoff in Oglethorpe County. The board of elections received 144 mail-in ballots and had a total of 897 early voters. On Tuesday, Elections Supervisor Marilyn Huff-Waller said precincts were slow, seeing only 1,188 voters throughout election day.
“Participation is the age-old $50 million question,” said Dave Gossage, chairman of the Oglethorpe County Republican Party. “How do you get people to participate?”
Low turnout was partly because Oglethorpe County’s local races were settled during the general primary on May 19.
However, 10 statewide and federal races, six Republican and four Democratic, were left undecided, so local party leaders have been encouraging voters to return to the polls to set the slate for November’s general election.
“Even in just the elections that we have on the ballot for this runoff, there is probably one candidate that could possibly prevail in the fall,” said Jane Kidd, chair of the Oglethorpe County Democratic Committee. “The main objective is to elect the people you want to elect in the general election … every vote is always important.”
One of the most competitive races in this election cycle has been Georgia’s open governor seat, which initially drew seven Democrats and eight Republicans. While former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic nomination in May with 56.2% of the vote, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare executive Rick Jackson advanced to Tuesday’s runoff.
“The governor’s race has been a topic of many discussions, lieutenant governor even … it really is kind of anybody's guess,” Gossage said.
Statewide, Jackson defeated Jones with 52.6% of the vote for the chance to challenge Bottoms in November. Locally, voters favored Bottoms and Jackson. Bottoms received 411 of the county’s total votes in the primary, while Jackson received 1,000 votes in the runoff.
A crowded five-candidate Republican race for U.S. Senate was also settled on the June ballot. Rep. Mike Collins ultimately defeated former football coach Derek Dooley for the nomination, securing the chance to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in the fall. Collins won 52.09% of the local vote and 55.5% of the statewide vote.
Both Democratic and Republican ballots featured runoffs for the seats of lieutenant governor and secretary of state.
In the race for lieutenant governor, Democratic State Sen. Josh McLaurin defeated Nabilah Parkes, while Republican State Sen. Greg Dolezal defeated John Kennedy.
Republican Tim Fleming defeated Vernon Jones in the Secretary of State race. He will go on to challenge Democrat Penny Brown Reynolds in November, who defeated Dana Barrett with 63.1% of the vote.
In Oglethorpe County, voters favored these statewide winners. McLaurin and Fleming took home over 60% of the local vote while Dolezal and Reynolds won over 50%.
Other state elections
- Republican incumbent Richard Woods defeated challenger Fred Longgrear for State School Superintendent. He will face Democratic challenger Lydia Powell, who won 50.5% of the primary vote.
- Josh Tolbert defeated Bobby Mehan for the Republican nomination for Public Service Commissioner for District 5. He will face Democrat Shelia Edwards, who won 55.7% of the primary vote.
- Democrat Keisha Sean Waites defeated DeAndre Mathis for Commissioner of Insurance. She will challenge Republican incumbent John King, who ran unopposed.
- Democrat Nikki Porcher defeated Michelle Sanchez for Commissioner of Labor. She will challenge Republican incumbent Bárbara Holmes, who ran unopposed.