What began as a crowded field of eight Republican candidates was narrowed down to two for Tuesday’s runoff race between former pastor Jody Hice and political insider Rob Woodall.
In the end, voters chose Washington experience over conservative activism.
Hice carried Barrow County with 65 percent of the vote. Though winning locally by a sizeable margin, the numbers were not enough to overcome Woodall district wide.
Woodall secured the Republican nomination with 56 percent of the overall vote.
Woodall carried Forsyth, Gwinnett and Newton. Hice won Barrow and Walton.
Hice, initially considered a long shot in the race, easily bested early favorite Clay Cox for a runoff slot due in large part to the support of Barrow County voters.
In the July 20 primary, Hice earned 55 percent of the vote in Barrow County compared to only 26 percent for Rob Woodall. Cox finished a distant third with ten percent. Cox was in second place overall until the Barrow numbers pushed Hice ahead and within striking distance of Woodall at one point.
Staunchly conservative, Hice was endorsed by several political groups including Gun Owners of America, Concerned Women Political Action Committee, conservative talk show host Herman Cain, the Barrow County Tea Party and several other Tea Party groups.
Woodall also enjoyed several key endorsements including one from his former boss, retiring 7th Congressional District Rep. John Linder. Woodall was also endorsed by former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Republican Representative Tom Price.
As the Republican nominee, Woodall must now face Democrat Doug Heckman in the November 2 general election.
The 7th Congressional District includes all of Barrow and Walton counties, most of Gwinnett County, and portions of Forsyth and Newton counties.
STATE SENATE 47
While the 7th District Congressional race garnered the most attention, the more hotly contested race locally was that for State Senate 47.
With the early exit of former Braselton mayor Pat Graham from the race, voters were left with four choices: Doug Bower, Shane Coley, Kelley Gary and Frank Ginn.
All four candidates campaigned extensively in Barrow County during the primary season with each participating in several local forums.
In the weeks leading up to the runoff, both candidates picked up numerous endorsements.
Ginn enjoyed the support of Georgia Right to Life, the Georgia Carry Association and several local and state politicians including Auburn mayor Linda Blechinger, Barrow County commissioner Ben Hendrix and Jackson County commission chairman Hunter Bicknell.
Coley was endorsed by former rivals Doug Bower and Kelley Gary as well as Can-Do Conservatives of America and several Tea Party groups.
In the July 20 primary, Coley won Barrow County with a total of 2,296 votes to Frank Ginn’s 2,141, but Ginn received the most support districtwide with 45 percent of the vote.
With the exception of Barrow County, Ginn carried the remaining five counties in the district.
In Tuesday’s election, Barrow County once again bucked the trend voting for Coley by a 55 to 45 percent margin over Ginn.
Ginn won the rest of the district, finishing with 55 percent of the overall vote.
Ginn will now move on to challenge Democrat Tim Riley in the general election.
The 47th district covers all or parts of six counties including Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Jackson, Madison and Oglethorpe.
STATEWIDE RACES
Statewide, voters were asked to choose between Republicans Nathan Deal and Karen Handel for the gubernatorial nomination.
In Barrow County, Deal won by a sizeable margin of 62 percent to Handel’s 38 percent.
Statewide, the race was extremely close.
At the end of election day, Deal held a slim lead with 50.2 percent of the vote to Handel’s 49.8 percent.
With just over 2,400 votes separating the two candidates, a recount was a possibility until Handel conceded the race early Wednesday.
Still outstanding are the provisional ballots, many of which will not be tallied until later this week.
If Deal holds on to the lead, he will face Democrat Roy Barnes and Libertarian John Monds in November.
Other statewide Republican races on the runoff ballot included the Attorney General’s race in which voters chose Sam Olens over Preston Smith. Statewide, Olens carried 59 percent of the vote.
Olens carried Barrow County with 54 percent of the vote.
For insurance commissioner, voters picked Ralph Hudgens as the Republican nominee.
Hudgens easily beat challenger Maria Sheffield among Barrow County voters garnering 69 percent of the vote. Overall, Hudgens won 55 percent of the vote.
The district 2 Public Safety Commissioner seat was also on the Republican runoff ballot. Winner Tim Echols narrowly edged out John Douglas with 52 percent of the vote statewide.
Barrow County voters supported Echols by a 53 percent margin to Douglas’ 47 percent.
Democratic voters had one statewide race contested in the runoff.
Georganna Sinkfield topped Gail Buckner to secure the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State.
Buckner was the top choice for Barrow voters with 64 percent of the vote and took 62 percent of the statewide vote.
VOTER TURNOUT
As is typical in most runoff elections, turnout was low.
However, the participation rate in the runoff election was higher than the 2008 general primary runoff.
In Barrow County, almost 19 percent of the electorate showed up at the polls on Tuesday.
In the 2008 runoff, less than 15 percent of registered Barrow County voters cast ballots with 1,382 casting absentee or provisional ballots.
During last week’s early voting, 941 people voted in person and 151 cast mail-in ballots.
