General Election Brings Historic Turnout

Local counties saw record turnouts throughout the General Election, which concluded on November 5, as thousands of voters came out to cast their ballot for national and local leaders.

On a national level, former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala

Harris by almost 4 million votes, as he earned 312 electoral college votes to Harris’s 226 electoral college votes. Trump and Vice President-Elect JD Vance will begin their terms this January.

U.S. Representative Rick Allen (R-12) defeated his opponent Elizabeth “Liz” Johnson by over 70,000 votes to continued from page

continue to represent rural Georgia.

State Representative Butch Parrish (R-158), who represents Treutlen County, defeated his opponent Madeline Ryan Smith, as he garnered 18,044 votes to Smith’s 6,708 votes, allowing him to return to the state legislature. State Senator Blake Tillery and State Representative Leesa Hagan also will return to the state legislature, as the pair ran unopposed.

Montgomery County Montgomery County had a staggering 4,005 of the registered 5,429 voters cast their ballots, totaling a 74% participation rate – a number which longtime election worker Bobbie Carpenter said she had not seen in years.

Incumbent Montgomery County Tax Commissioner Loretta Lane, who has served the county for almost 20 years, was defeated by her opponent Renia Wooten-Perry, as Perry claimed 2,044 votes (52.56%) and Lane took home 1,845 votes (47.44%).

Another new commissioner will also begin her first term in office in January, as Amie Vassey defeated Stephanie Love Ivy for the District 2 Commission seat. Vassey received 622 votes (82.93%) while Ivy took home 128 votes (17.07%).

District 3 Commissioner Ginger Byrd Morris defeated her opponent Linda Jackson Page on a 604 (74.66%) to 205 (25.34%) victory.

Tonya Donaldson will join the Uvalda City Council in place of the late Councilman William Rollins, as she defeated her opponent Stephanie Kerr by two votes on a 87 (50.58%) to 85 (49.42%) victory.

The County voted in favor of Trump in the presidential race, as the former president received 3,033 votes (76.34%) to Harris’s 927 votes (23.33%). U.S. Representative Rick Allen also found favor in Montgomery County, as he received 3,054 votes (79.16%) to opponent Johnson’s 804 votes (20.84%).

Citizens were primarily in favor of Proposed Amendment 1, which would create a potential floating homestead exemption for property taxes if the County chose not to opt out of this potential new law. A total of 2,321 (62.56%) of Montgomery County voters cast their ballot in favor of this, while 1,389 voters (37.44%) opposed the idea.

On the contrary, a total of 2,000 voters (54.60%) opposed the Proposed Amendment 2, which would create a state tax court.

The majority of voters supported the state referendum question regarding the minimum value of taxable property moving from $7,000 to $20,000. A total of 2,148 people 957.23%) voted in favor of this change, while 1,605 voters (42.77%) opposed it.

In addition to these races, several uncontested candidates officially won their offices, including Uvalda City Councilmen Steve Calhoun and Jeff Adams, Ohoopee River Soil and Water District Supervisor Drew Conner, District 1 County Commissioner Jimmy “Pedro” Sharpe, Coroner Laurie Sharpe Holland, Sheriff Ben Maybin, Clerk of Superior Court Tammy C. Foskey, Probate Judge Stacie Sharpe Randolph, and Oconee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Timothy G. Vaughn.

Toombs County Over 10,000 of the 16,692 registered voters in Toombs County cast their ballots, marking a 66% participation rate in the election.

The race between Captain Jordan Kight and write-in candidate Sergeant Rodney Wardlaw for the position of Sheriff ended, as it was Kight who was victorious, garnering 8,463 votes while Wardlaw took home 1,185 votes.

Former President Donald Trump also found favor in Toombs County, as he collected 8,203 votes (75.24%) and Harris received 2,670 votes (24.49%). Likewise, U.S. Representative Rick Allen defeated challenger Johnson in Toombs County on a 8,225 vote (77.71%) to 2,359 vote (22.29%) victory.

Voters were in favor of Proposed Amendment 1, as 6,583 (64.72%) people supported the potential legislation and 3,589 people (35.28%) voted against it.

Proposed Amendment 2 did not receive the same support as Amendment 1, as 5,083 voters (50.71%) voted against the legislation while 4,941 voters (49.29%) supported it.

Voters also supported the state referendum idea of increasing the minimal taxable property value to $20,000, as 6,292 voters (61.08%) voted in favor of the change while 4,010 voters (38.92%) opposed it.

Several unopposed candidates also made their new terms official, including Tax Commissioner Anna Wommack Holcombe, District 3 County Commissioner Darriel Nobles, District 2 County Commissioner Buck Moon, County Commission Chairman David Sikes, Coroner Ronald V. Hall, State Court Solicitor Thomas Alexander Peterson IV, Clerk of Superior Court Nancy T. Pittman, and Middle Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tripp Fitzner.

Treutlen County Treutlen County saw a 74% voter participation rate in the General Election, as 3,133 of the 4,242 registered voters cast their ballots.

Sheriff Tommy Corbin will return to office in January, as he defeated his opponent Kyle Strickland in a 2,161-vote (70.71%) to 895 vote (29.29%) victory. Current District 1 County Commissioner Cali Little Hollis also will return to office, after defeating her opponent Phillip Morris by 11 votes.

State Representative Butch Parrish received overwhelming support in Treutlen County, as 2,217 (76.16%) voters cast their ballots for Parrish, while 694 voters (23.84%) selected Madeline Ryan Smith as their preferred candidate.

A total of 2,250 people (72.09%) supported former President Trump with their votes, as 864 voters (27.68%) cast their ballots for Vice President Harris.

U.S. Representative Rick Allen also found great victory in Treutlen County, as he received 2,238 votes (75.53%) to Johnson’s 725 votes (24.47%).

A majority of the county’s voters supported Proposed Amendment 1, with 1,640 people (58.05%) voting in favor of it and 1,185 citizens (41.95%) opposing it.

Though the vote was almost equally split on Proposed Amendment 2, more citizens opposed the statewide tax court, as 1,496 voters (53.47%) disagreed with the amendment and 1,302 citizens (46.53%) voted in favor of the potential legislation.

Treutlen County citizens were also in favor of potentially raising the minimum taxable property value, as 1,488 individuals (51.97%) voted in favor of the action and 1,375 people (48.03%) opposed it.

In addition to this, several unopposed candidates officially landed their positions. These candidates included Board of Education Members Jeremy Lankford (District 4), Zachary Mixon (District 3), and Toni Banes (District 1); County Commissioners Joey Powell (District 4) and Rodney Meeks (District 3); Coroner Gregg Higgs; Tax Commissioner Penny Wheeler; Clerk of Superior Court Connie Smith; Probate Judge Tiffany Wyatt McLendon; Dublin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Harold D. McLendon; and State Senator Larry Walker (District 20).

Wheeler County Last week, Wheeler County came extremely close to topping a voting turnout high water mark set in the 2020 presidential election. In balloting on November 5, 71.18% of the county’s 3,213 registered voters cast 2,287 ballots in the 2024 presidential election. “We were just 11 votes shy of the number of votes cast in 2020, which was 2,298 with 400 absentee ballots,” said Karen Mercer, Wheeler County Elections Supervisor.

“This year, we exceeded the 2020 voting in the number of votes actually cast on Election Day and in advance voting,” she said, noting that 644 votes were cast during the COVID epidemic on voting day in 2020, but 758 were cast in person in 2024, with 1,438 voting in advance this year.

It was an impressive turnout this time around, with Wheeler County echoing the Red wave exhibited across the country. The Wheeler County Board of Elections met Friday to certify the results.

Mercer said there were no long voting lines in Wheeler County on Election Day, or beforehand during advance voting. “It stayed steady,” she said of the advance voting which commenced on October 15 and ended November 1. “We had three poll pads and six voting machines operating that handled the voting really well.”

In Wheeler County, voters overwhelmingly favored President Donald J. Trump with 1,648 votes, or 72.41% of the total. Vice President Kamala Harris amassed 622 votes, for 27.33 % of the vote. Libertarian Chase Oliver received 5 votes (0.22%), and Green Party candidate Jill Stein received one vote (.004%).

A number of unopposed Republican candidates were on the ballot in Wheeler County, and all received 100% of the vote, including: Oconee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Timothy Vaughn; District 19 State Senator Blake Tillery of Vidalia; District 156 Representative Leesa Hagan of Lyons; Clerk of Wheeler County Superior Court Carol Bragg; Wheeler County Tax Commissioner Kim Clark; Wheeler County Commissioners Danny Clark (District 1), Rochelle Culver (District 2), and Keith McNeal (District 3). Glenn Giles, who defeated fellow Republican and incumbent Sheriff Randy Rigdon in primary voting, was also on the ballot and otherwise unopposed, so received 100% of the vote. Also on the ballot was Independent candidate Michael Hayes, who was unopposed in his bid for election as an Ohoopee River Soil and Water Supervisor.

Also on the ballot was 12th District Congressman Rick Allen, a Republican, who was challenged by Democrat Elizabeth Johnson. He received 1,631 votes (75.02%) to Johnson’s 543 votes (24.98%). Allen handily defeated Johnson in statewide balloting, garnering 60.39% of votes cast to Johnson’s 39.6%.

Voting in Wheeler County on a statewide referendum and two amendments to the state constitution partially paralleled statewide balloting. Wheeler residents favored proposed amendment #1, which authorizes home property tax exemptions, with 1,233 yes votes (60.53%), but rejected amendment #2 to create a state tax court, with 1,073 no votes, or 52.19% of the total votes cast. Regarding the statewide referendum to increase the personal property tax exemption, Wheeler residents cast 1,136 yes votes for 53.89% of the total votes cast. To pass, the amendments and the referendum needed to amass at least a 50% approval statewide. All three of the measures passed statewide, with amendment #1 garnering a 62.9% favorable vote, amendment #2 gaining a 51.9% approval, and the referendum receiving 64.5% of the voting total in the affirmative.