Primary Run-off Results for Oconee County 8-10-10

Posted By Kate on August 12, 2010

The County Wants Who For Governor?

A Citizen's Responsibility

Some interesting stats for the county – although these figures were unofficial on Tuesday night, they were declared official the next morning after the vote by the Sectary of State:

  • 20,239 – Total number of registered voters in the county.
  • 13 – All precincts reporting.
  • 4,024 – Total votes of the 20,239 registered.
  • 20.47% – Voter turnout.
  • 2,414 (60.15%) – votes for Nathan Deal for Governor.☼ Winner.
  • 1,599 (39.85%) – votes for Karen Handel for Governor.
  • 1,897 – (55.76%) votes for Sam Olens for Attorney General.☼ Winner.
  • 1,505 – (44.24%) votes for Preston Smith for Attorney General.
  • 2,511 – (66.59%) votes for Ralph Hudgens for Insurance Commissioner.☼ Winner.
  • 1,236 – (33.41%) votes for Maria Sheffield for Insurance Commissioner.
  • 1,683 – (51.67%) votes for Tim Echols for Public Service Commissioner.☼ Winner.
  • 1,574 – (48.33%) votes for John Douglas for Public Service Commissioner.

Oconee County supported Nathan Deal for Governor by 2 to 1. Does this send a strong message from Oconee County that he is best suited to beat former Governor Democrat Roy Barnes? It was very exciting for about 4,000 plus Oconee voters (a few less than the same number that voted in the General Primary) especially the Governor’s race. Background: Former Secretary of State Karen Handel emerged in the General Primary (7 candidates total for Governor of Georgia) with about 10 points ahead of former US Congressman Nathan Deal which threw both of them in a Republican run-off on August 10. Voters were anxious to vote for their favorite Republican to challenge former Governor Roy Barnes who handily captured the nomination (among 7 candidates) for the Democrats in the General Primary.

Although, Republicans try to live by the Reagan motto (Never throw negative slurs at a fellow Republican), the 2 candidates did use negative ads against each other. Handel used Deal’s most harmful negative – he was indicted by a grand jury for “fixing” a bid in his favor for a salvage company that he owns. He resigned from the US House immediately and it is well known that if you have an ethics problem in Congress, just resign the body and the investigation stops. Not good.

Deal used the history of Handel’s alleged misrepresentation of her interest in the Cabin Republicans (a group of homosexuals that stay out of the spotlight) and the record of her having given a $70 personal check to the Fulton County Planned Parenthood – a group that supports abortion). She claimed to be a Christian and pro-life and against homosexuality. He called her a liar. Not good.

Despite the negatives, the conversation among voters centered mostly around “which of the 2” could beat Democrat Roy Barnes in November for Governor of Georgia.

During the count on Tuesday night (after the polls closed), the numbers for the Governor’s seat were so close (about 1000 votes difference) that no broadcaster would “call” the election. Ballots had not come in from the Fulton County area in which Handel was the stronger contender. And the provisional and military votes had yet to be counted. It was nip and tuck all night. The next morning, with less than 2,000 between them, Handel did not call for a recount (difference less than 2% of the total vote) and conceded the contest to Deal. She placed a gracious call to Deal and committed to helping him beat Barnes. The “Year of the Woman” helped to put a women nominee on the ticket but fell short of electing her as the first ever woman Governor.

The problem in Oconee County: Residents are registered but don’t bother to vote – a bit of over confidence in the electorate. Only about 1/5 (4,000) of the total registered voters (20,239) bother to actually go to the polls and vote. Maybe the county needs a strong GOTV brigade to nudge a few non-participants. That’s Get-Out-The-Vote.

The End.

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About The Author

Kate
As of July 2010, I have reached 76 years. I retired in 2004 and have been enjoying my retirement by getting involved in community activities. I am an active member of the Keep Oconee Clean & Beautiful which I founded with the help of the Oconee BOC in 1992. Also a member of the Oconee Chamber of Commerce (Ambassador), OCAF, the Veterans Memorial Foundation and the local Oconee GOP. In 2007, I was appointed by the BOC Chairman, Melvin Davis as a member of the CSB - Advantage Behavioral Health Systems and last year was voted as the Chairman of that 16-member Community Service Board. Am also the owner of the Web site - a Positive Vision of Oconee County - started in 2004. I began attending government and community events and took photos of the meetings to compliment my articles on the Web site. Since then, I have collected over 40,000 photos. I guess you could call me the roving community photographer. I enjoy meeting people and helping where I can be of help. I am married to Mac McDaniel and have 2 very talented children, Dan and Cindy. I try to stay abreast of happenings in the County and outside the county that if they are relative to Oconee residents so as to record these happenings for posterity. My Photos will be given to the Oconee Library for all to access and enjoy for years to come when I am no longer able to use them.

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