Howard Sanders takes District 1 by 7 votes
Howard Sanders (Submitted Photo)
UPDATE: Recount confirms District 1 outcome
Howard Sanders defeated incumbent and cousin Phil Sanders for the District 1 Board of Commissioners seat by only seven votes (140-133) in the runoff on Tuesday.
After only receiving 31.5% of the vote in the May 24 general primary, Howard Sanders received 51.3% of the vote on Tuesday, according to the Oglethorpe County Board of Elections.
Phil Sanders had 48.7% of the vote.
“I would like to thank everybody that came out and voted for me, and I will do my best not to let you down,” Howard Sanders said.
He said he focused on communication with voters in the month since the general primary, which he credited with helping him gain the votes he needed for the victory.
“I talked to people that were undecided before, and I think that they voted my way,” he said.
Howard Sanders, who resigned as county coroner in March to run, said there are issues within the county that he is ready to fix, and he can’t wait to be a part of the board.
“It’s time to get to work,” Howard Sanders said shortly after the results were posted on Tuesday night. “I want to have an open mind to look at all sides of all issues and try to do what’s best, not for just the people in my district, but for the whole county.”
The District 1 Commission seat was the final county race to be decided.
Only 1,397 of the county’s 10,762 registered voters (12.98%) cast ballots — either in person or absentee — in Tuesday’s runoff, which also included races for the U.S. House of Representatives District 10 seat and several state positions.
District 10
Mike Collins, a trucking company executive, will face Tabitha Johnson-Green for the U.S. House of Representatives 10th District seat after they won their respective runoffs.
Collins defeated Vernon Jones on the Republican side, taking 74.5% of the vote (30,524-10,457), according to numbers on the Secretary of State’s website.
Johnson-Green defeated Jessica Fore with 64.4% of the vote.
In Oglethorpe County, Collins received 841 votes to Jones’ 309. Fore had 117 votes to Johnson-Green’s 114.
Other races
The state races included Democratic runoffs for lieutenant governor, secretary of state, insurance commissioner and labor commissioner.
Charlie Bailey defeated Kwanza Hall with 63.1% of the vote for lieutenant governor, Bee Nguyen had 77% of the vote for secretary of state, Janice Laws Robinson had 63.7% for insurance commissioner and William “Will” Boddie Jr. had 62.6% for labor commissioner.