Demorest Mayor Rick Austin has been re-elected to a second term.
Austin defeated challenger Jim Welborn by eight votes in Tuesday’s municipal election. Austin received 129 votes (51.6%) to Welborn’s 121 votes (48.4%), according to results released by the Habersham County Elections Office.
Demorest council member Sean Moore was re-elected for a second term. Former Demorest councilman Bruce Harkness also was elected. Both ran unopposed.
Mt. Airy City Council members Ray McCallister and Bobby Ayers both successfully defended their seats against challenger Cynthia Williams Tyler. Mcallister received 42 votes (42.2%), Ayers got 34 votes (34.34%) and Tyler received 23 votes (23.23%).
Tallulah Falls incumbents Deb Goatcher and Larry Hamilton held onto their city council seats Tuesday. They were the top vote getters in a four-person race that included challengers Paul Marsteller and Carol Nelms. Rabun County Election officials report Goatcher received the most votes with 35 (33.33%), followed by Hamilton with 27 votes (25.25%), Nelms got 23 votes (23.23%) and Marsteller received 17 votes (17.17%).
VIEW election returns from Demorest and Mt. Airy, Tallulah Falls
Voter participation in Demorest was low with just 250 of the city’s 861 active registered voters (29%) casting ballots. Turnout was even lower in Mt. Airy where only 64 of of the town’s 613 active registered voters (10%) took part in the election.
Unopposed races
There were no contested races in Alto, Baldwin, Clarkesville, or Cornelia. Fourteen offices were open and the candidates who qualified for them all ran unopposed (see list below).
No one qualified to run for the Alto Post 2 City Council seat or the Baldwin Post 1 City Council seat. Elections will be held May 22, 2018 to fill those vacancies.
Town of Alto
Council Post 1:
Carolyn Cabe (Incumbent)
Council Post 3:
Michael Ivie (Incumbent)
Council Post 5:
P.J. Huggins (Incumbent)
Council Post 2: (Special Election)
No One Qualified – To be held May 22, 2018
City of Baldwin
Mayor:
Jerry Neace (Incumbent)
Council Post 4:
Jeff Parrish (Incumbent)
Council Post 5:
Alice Lindsay Venter
Council Post 1: (Special Election)
No One Qualified-To be held May 22, 2018
City of Clarkesville
Mayor:
Barrie Aycock (Incumbent)
Council Post 1:
John Mitchell
Council Post 4:
Franklin Brown(Incumbent)
Council Post 5:
Steven Ward
City of Cornelia
Commission Ward 2:
Janice Griggs (Incumbent)
Commission Ward 3:
Don Bagwell (Incumbent)
