It was a big night for Republicans Tuesday as their party reclaimed the White House and kept control of Congress. Local party faithful gathered at the Habersham County GOP headquarters in Demorest to watch the election returns.
Historic. Nail biter. Upset. Stunning victory. Those words and more danced across television and computer screens and flowed from political pundits’ mouths Tuesday as billionaire mogul and novice politician Donald J. Trump laid claim to the most powerful office in the world. Trump defeated his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College vote despite Clinton’s potential win in the popular vote.
She conceded to Trump around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, drawing an unexpected and – for her supporters – brutally bitter end to her bid to become the first woman president of the United States.
As the nation and state went, so went Habersham. President-Elect Trump won both Habersham and Georgia, claiming 81% of the local vote and 51% statewide. Trump defeated Clinton in Georgia by nearly a quarter-of-a-million votes, 2,057,202 to 1,823,586. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson received 123,936 votes in Georgia.
It was a ‘huge’ win borne on the back of a huge voter turnout. National media reports say voter turnout was up 4.7% across the country.
In Habersham County, election records show 80.37% of the county’s 20,380 registered voters cast ballots. Nearly 63% of those votes were cast early either in person or by absentee ballot. And while the presidential race was undoubtedly the biggest draw, there were several state and local initiatives in Habersham that drew voter interest.
E-SPLOST & Alto
Habersham voters approved extending the current Educational Special Local Option Sales tax. E-SPLOST passed 65% to 35%. And in a razor-thin city council election for the Post 3 seat in Alto, Michael Ivie garnered 49.36% of the vote to Cheryl Lynn Closs’ 48.08%. Just two votes separated the candidates, 77 to 75. There were 4 write-in votes in the Alto City Council race accounting for 2.56% of the overall vote total.
State Constitutional Amendments
Just as they did in the presidential race, Habersham Countians voted right in line with their fellow Georgians on four proposed State Constitutional Amendments.
Amendment 1 would have allowed the State to take over failing schools. The measure was defeated statewide by a nearly 800,000 vote margin – 60% to 40%. In Habersham it was defeated 63% to 37%. The defeat of the so called “Opportunity School District” amendment was a blow to Gov. Nathan Deal who lobbied hard for its passage claiming it would improve the quality of education in Georgia.
While Georgians made it clear they don’t support state interference in schools, they offered resounding support for victims of child sex trafficking. Amendment 2 authorizes the State to pay for the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund through taxes and penalties on strip clubs and those convicted of sex crimes. The measure was approved by a more than 2.5 million vote margin statewide – 83%-17%. In Habersham it passed 85% to 15%.
State and Habersham voters alike said “Yes” to a Constitutional amendment to reform and re-establish the State Judicial Qualifications Commission. Voters also approved an amendment that will allow the State to dedicate revenue from existing taxes on fireworks to trauma care, fire services, and public safety.
Habersham County’s 2016 Election Returns
(results are unofficial until certified by the Georgia Secretary of State)
PRESIDENT
D.J. Trump (R) 13184 | 80.75%
H. Clinton (D) 2483 | 15.21%
G. Johnson (L) 461 | 2.82%
Write-in Votes 199 | 1.22%
US SENATE
J. Isakson (I)(R) 12487 | 80.99%
J. Barksdale (D) 2173 | 14.09%
A. Buckley (L) 736 | 4.77%
Write-in Votes 22 | .14%
PSC Echols
T. Echols (I)(R) 12963 | 86.20%
E. Hoskins (L) 2057 | 13.68%
Write-in Votes 18 | .12%
US HOUSE 9
D. Collins (I)(R) 14013 | 99.13%
Write-in Votes 123 | .87%
STATE SENATE 50
J.K. Wilkinson (I)(R) 13980 | 99.37%
Write-in Votes 123 | .87%
STATE HOUSE 10
T. Rogers (I)(R) 10739 | 99.29%
Write-in Votes 77 | .71%
STATE HOUSE 28
D. Gasaway 3219 | 99.47%
Write-in Votes 17 | .53%
DIST. ATTORNEY – Mountain Judicial Circuit
G. Christian 13799 | 99.58%
Write-in Votes 58 | .42%
PROBATE JUDGE
P.F. Wooley (I)(R) 13786 | 99.35%
Write-in Votes 90 | .65%
SUPERIOR COURT CLERK
D.C. Wall 14027 | 99.55%
Write-in Votes 63 | .45%
SHERIFF
J. Terrell (I)(R) 13934 | 98.39%
Write-in Votes 228 | 1.61%
TAX COMMISSIONER
J.M. Black (I)(R) 14188 | 99.63%
Write-in Votes 52 | .37%
CORONER
K.C. McEntire (I)(R) 14155 | 99.75%
Write-in Votes 36 | .25%
MAGISTRATE JUDGE
G. Johnson (I)(R) 13724 | 99.69%
Write-in Votes 43 | .31%
SOLICITOR
W. Oliver (I)(R) 13756 | 99.65%
Write-in Votes 48 | .35%
COUNTY COMM 1
S. Hall (R) 13702 | 99.63%
Write-in Votes 51 | .37%
COUNTY COMM 4
N. Crawford (I)(R) 13504 | 99.58%
Write-in Votes 57 | .42%
COUNTY COMM 5
E. Nichols (I)(R) 13491 | 99.64%
Write-in Votes 49 | .36%
BOE 1
D. Westmoreland (R) 13556 | 99.27%
Write-in Votes 100 | .73%
BOE 2
R.H. Barron (I)(R) 13407 | 99.57%
Write-in Votes 58 | .43%
CONST AMENDMENT 1 – Opportunity School District
Yes 5820 | 37.16%
No 9843 | 62.84%
CONST AMENDMENT 2 – Safe Harbor Fund
Yes 13241 | 85.05%
No 2328 | 14.95%
CONST AMENDMENT 3 – State Judicial Qualifications Commission
Yes 9423 | 64.36%
No 5218 | 35.64%
CONST AMENDMENT 4 – Fireworks taxes
Yes 12718 | 81.84%
No 2823 | 18.16%
SPLOST
Yes 10006 | 64.54%
No 5497 | 35.46%
TOWN OF ALTO – City Council P3
C. Closs 75 | 48.08%
M. Ivie 77 | 49.36%
Write-in Votes 4 | 2.56%
