Habersham Countians will see some changes in their local government next year. Two new commissioners will step onto the county commission and, it appears, so will two new board of education members.
All of Habersham’s local and state candidates ran as Republicans. Independent and write-in candidates may still qualify to run against them in November.
Click here for Habersham County primary election returns
Mealor and Tench win commission primaries
In the Republican Primary Election for Habersham County Commissioner, Dustin Mealor and Jimmy Tench claimed their spot on the November ballot. The two are running for the seats left open by outgoing commissioners Victor Anderson and Andrea Harper, respectively.
Mealor, a former Baldwin City Councilman, defeated D. Higgins Jr. of Cornelia in the District 2 Commission GOP Primary. Mealor received 2274 votes (52%) to Higgins’ 2136 votes (48%). Tench defeated Steve Lindley for the Distrct 3 Commission GOP Primary, 2426 votes (59%) to Lindley’s 1713 votes (41%).
Challengers shake-up Board of Ed
In the District 4 Board of Education GOP Primary, incumbent Rick Williams lost his bid for re-election. Challenger Kristie Dover won with 2400 votes (54%) to Williams’ 2034 votes (46%)
District 5 Board of Education incumbent Pat Taylor, too, lost her bid for re-election by a less than razor thin margin. One-tenth of a percentage point is all that separated Taylor and challenger John F. Elger. Elger received 2208 votes (50.10%) to Taylor’s 2199 votes (49.90%). State law allows candidates to request a recount in cases where the winning vote margin is less than or equal to 1% of the overall count.
Lewallen wins in Baldwin
In the City of Baldwin Special Election, Larry T. Lewallen defeated Stephanie Almagno by 16 votes to claim the City Council seat left open when Dustin Mealor resigned to run for county commission. Lewallen received 90 votes (54%) to Almagno’s 74 votes (45%). There were two write in votes for Baldwin City Council.
Green wins Mt. Airy council race
In Mount Airy, Christopher Green has been elected to fill the unexpired term of Linda Hughes on the Town Council. Hughes passed away in January. Green won with 30% of the vote in a four-person race. He received 41 votes. Patrick Ledford received 31 votes (23%), Ken Moore got 36 (26%), and Cindy Williams Tyler received 29 votes (21%).
Demorest voters approve liquor referendums
Voters in Demorest approved sales of liquor by the drink. The referendum passed with 101 votes (53%) to 89 (47%). They also approved Sunday liquor sales by a three point margin – 97 votes (51%) to 94 (49%). Similar measures were voted down in Demorest in 2014.
Erwin wins District 28 by 67 votes
The race for District 28 State Representative may be headed for a recount. Incumbent Republican Rep. Dan Gasaway was narrowly defeated in his bid for re-election. Gasaway lost to challenger Chris Erwin in Habersham and Banks Counties but he won big in Stephens County where a voters helped him pull to within a 67 vote margin.
District-wide, Gasaway received 3044 votes (49.46%) to Erwin’s 3111 votes (50.54%).
In Habersham, Gasaway received 475 votes (42%) to Erwin’s 655 votes (58%). Erwin won Banks County by the same percentage. There he received 1402 votes (58%) to Gasaway’s 1013 votes (42%). In Stephens County, Gasaway received 1556 votes (59.62%) to Erwin’s 1054 votes (40.38%).
For complete Habersham Count election returns, click here.
