There will be several new faces on the municipal councils around Barrow County come January following the results from Tuesday’s election.
In Winder, challenger Jimmy Terrell, a former law enforcement official and interim county manager, easily defeated incumbent city councilman Ridley Parrish for the Ward 3 seat, garnering 235 votes (67 percent) to Parrish’s 113 (32.2 percent). Parrish has served on the council since January 1993 and was also a member of the Barrow County Board of Education for 14 years.
Meanwhile in the at-large race, Chris Akins, the general manager for Akins Ford, defeated business and economic development consultant Todd Saxton with 605 votes (73.2 percent) to Saxton’s 218 (26.4 percent). Akins will replace outgoing councilman Bob Dixon, who initially planned to pursue a third term but withdrew from the race due to family health reasons.
In Ward 1, councilman Sonny Morris was elected without opposition.
In Statham, where three seats were up for grabs, Eddie Jackson, a retired business owner in the city, led the voting Tuesday with 157 votes.
Dwight McCormic, the most critical candidate about current business practices, was second with 126 votes.
The last spot was about as tight as it could be – one vote separated the number three and four vote-getters.
Incumbent Betty Lyle, a council member for 35 years, had the edge, 103 to 102 for Tammy Hitchcock.
Jackson and McCormic will be new members of the city council.
Incumbents David Huth and Gayle Steed chose not to run for re-election.
The total vote in the city election was 234 people – 186 on election day and 48 in early voting.
The other candidate, Roger Tripp, a retired police chief, received 87 votes.
In Carl, challenger Joshua Godfrey won the mayoral race, edging out incumbent Mayor David Brock 24 votes to 19. Council members Grady Cheely and James Shedd were re-elected without opposition.
While qualifying was held for council seats in Auburn and Bethlehem, only the incumbents qualified and the elections were subsequently canceled.
Meanwhile in the special election for the vacant Georgia House of Representatives District 117 seat, which represents a portion of eastern Barrow County, Republican Houston Gaines outran Democrat Deborah Gonzalez in Barrow, 278-121, but Gonzalez won the election districtwide.
Gonzalez will replace Republican Regina Quick in the seat
Voter turnout countywide was only 5.4 percent as 2,267 out of 41,978 registered voters cast ballots.
County voters also voted overwhelmingly Tuesday, 1,644 to 604 (73-27 percent), to extend the current 1-cent special-purpose local-option sales tax (SPLOST), which expires June 30, for another five years.
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