(Cleveland)- White County has a new sheriff come January following what was described as a surprising outright win by candidate Rick Kelley in the primary voting from Tuesday.
Kelley jumped ahead with the early votes and absentee ballots and then kept up the pace as each of the precincts came in during the night. The final vote was Kelley 3,792 votes to second-highest vote-getter Aaron Autry 2,170. Other vote totals were: John Murphy 886 votes, William Garrett 283, and Jeffery Ramey 213 votes.
Kelley said after the outcome was obvious, “I’m honored and humbled and can’t believe the support I’ve gotten and to make it without a runoff, cause I came in here anticipating a runoff. That’s what i was prepared for. I’m amazed, it still hasn’t sunk in yet, it’s pretty emotional.”
There will be a runoff for Probate Judge between top vote-getter Don Ferguson and Carol Jackson. Ferguson received 3,242 votes, Jackson 2,812, with Cam Greene 698 votes and Randall Townley 550. Ferguson commented ” It’s been really great being a candidate, I appreciate everyone’s help and support. The first time I’ve ever done anything like this, it’s really nice. Got the opportunity to meet a lot of the great people here in the county and I’d appreciate everybody’s help and support come runoff day.
In the District one County Commission seat Incumbent, Terry Goodger won reelection b beating challenger Jerry Nicholson. Goodger received 1,276 votes to Nicholson’s 383.
The only other contested race in the county voting was for the Board of Education Chair. Incumbent Missy Jarrard easily won receiving 4,790 votes to challenger Carly Saxon Adam’s 2,369 votes.
The results of the E-SPLOST 6,160 yes votes were cast to 2,325 no votes.
White County Election Superintendent Garrison Baker said it was a good turnout with 43.6 percent of the 20,039 registered voters casting ballots. ” I can say I’m well pleased with the system, I’m well pleased with the way everybody worked, we’ll do it again in August, it looks like we do have a runoff,” said Baker.
In the City of Cleveland, there were two special elections held Tuesday, Josh Turner won the Mayor’s seat by received 342 votes to Annie Sutton’s 306. In the Council Ward 2 race, Rebecca Yardley was the winner Yardley received 307 votes to challenger Felicia Sutton 270.
White County Election Results
REPUBLICAN RACES
White County Precincts Reporting : 11 of 11
| Political Race |
Name |
Totals |
Percent |
| White County Races / Totals |
This includes all
precincts, absentee ballots, and
early voting results. |
|
| White County Sheriff |
Rick Kelley |
3,792 |
51.63% |
| Aaron Autry |
2,170 |
29.5% |
| William Garrett |
283 |
3.85% |
| John Murphy |
886 |
12.06% |
| Jeffery JB Ramey |
213 |
2.9% |
| White County Probate Court Judge |
Don Ferguson |
3,242 |
44.4% |
| Cam Greene |
698 |
9.56% |
| Carol Jackson |
2,812 |
38.51% |
| Randall Townley |
550 |
7.53% |
| White County Board Of Commissioners District 1 |
Terry Goodger (incumbent) |
1,276 |
76.91% |
| Jerry Nicholson |
383 |
23.09% |
| White County Board Of Education Chairman |
Missy Jarrard (incumbent) |
4,790 |
66.91% |
| Carly S Adam |
2,369 |
33.09% |
|
|
|
|
| Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Referendum |
|
|
| YES |
|
6160 |
72.6% |
|
|
|
|
| District – Wide Races/Totals |
|
|
| U.S. Representative 9th Congressional District |
Michael Boggus |
341 |
4.95% |
| Paul Broun |
735 |
10.68% |
| Andrew Clyde |
1,320 |
19.17% |
| Matt Gurtler |
1,964 |
28.53% |
| Maria Strickland |
249 |
3.62% |
| Kevin Tanner |
894 |
12.98% |
| Ethan Underwood |
484 |
7.03% |
| Kellie Weeks |
367 |
5.33% |
| John K. Wilkinson |
531 |
7.71% |
| Georgia State Representative 8th District |
Stan Gunter |
1,034 |
66.32% |
| Steve Townsend |
525 |
33.68% |
| Georgia State Representative 10th District |
Victor Anderson |
1,231 |
25.44% |
| Robert Crumley |
2,174 |
44.94% |
| Jimmy Dean |
1,433 |
29.62% |
|
|
|
|
| Republican Party voters will be asked to vote “Yes” or “No” on the following questions: |
|
|
| 1 – Should Georgia lawmakers expand educational options by allowing a student’s state education dollars to follow to the school that best fits their needs, whether that is public, private, magnet, charter, virtual, or homeschool? |
|
|
| YES |
|
5,206 |
70.94% |
| 2 – Should voting in the Republican Primary be limited to voters who have registered as Republicans? |
|
|
| NO |
|
3,902 |
53.15% |
| 3 – Should candidates for the board of education be required to declare their political party? |
|
|
| YES |
|
4,803 |
65.03% |
|
|
|
|
|
CITY OF CLEVELAND SPECIAL ELECTION
|
DEMOCRATIC RACES
| Political Race |
Name |
Totals |
Percent |
| District-Wide Races / Totals |
| United States Senate |
Sarah Riggs Amico |
114 |
11.33% |
| Marckeith DeJesus |
16 |
1.59% |
| James Knox |
22 |
2.19% |
| Tricia Carpenter McCracken |
32 |
3.18% |
| Jon Ossoff |
587 |
58.35% |
| Maya Dillard Smith |
30 |
2.98% |
| Teresa Pike Tomlinson |
205 |
20.38% |
Public Service Commissioner
(To Succeed Lauren Bubba McDonald, Jr.) |
Daniel Blackman |
534 |
58.88% |
| John Noel |
373 |
41.12% |
| U.S. Congress 9th District |
Devin Pandy |
297 |
31.23% |
| Brooke Siskin |
432 |
45.43% |
| Dan Wilson |
222 |
23.34% |
| Democratic Party voters will be asked to vote “Yes” or “No” on the following questions: |
| 1 – Should Georgia take partisanship out of the redistricting process and have an independent commission draw district lines instead of politicians? |
|
|
| YES |
|
998 |
95.32% |
| 2 – Should Georgia enact basic standards to protect our environment from wasteful plastic items that pollute our state? |
|
|
| YES |
|
1,009 |
96.83% |
| 3 – Should every eligible Georgian be allowed to register to vote on Election Day to make sure everyone can exercise their right to vote? |
|
|
| YES |
|
907 |
87.38% |
| 4 – Should Georgians work to stop climate change and listen to the scientific community, which recommends immediate action to combat this serious threat to our planet? |
|
|
| YES |
|
998 |
95.96% |
| 5 – Should our criminal justice system end the discriminatory cash bail system that allows the wealthy to buy their way out of jail while disadvantaging lower-income Georgians? |
|
|
| YES |
|
894 |
86.80% |
| 6 – Should every Georgian that has served their sentence for a crime they committed be allowed to have their voting rights restored? |
|
|
| YES |
|
882 |
85.55% |
|
NONPARTISAN RACES
| Political Race |
Name |
Totals |
Percent |
| District-Wide Races / Totals |
Supreme Court Justice
(To Succeed Charlie Bethel) |
Elizabeth “Beth” Beskin |
2,517 |
32.14% |
| Charlie Bethel (Incumbent) |
5,315 |
67.86% |
Supreme Court Justice
(To Succeed Sarah Hawkins Warren) |
Hal Moroz |
1,434 |
18.39% |
| Sarah Hawkins Warren (Incumbent) |
6,362 |
81.61% |
|
