Oglesby will take seat on County Commission After Claiming 82% of Votes Cast

Local Elections

In Stephens County, 13,190 of Stephens County’s 18,719 registered voters cast a ballot in the General Election, for a voter turnout of 70%. Not counting a number of provisional ballots that will be investigated by the Stephens County Election Office and voted on by the Board of Elections, there were 10,681 votes cast in advance in person voting, 695 Absentee ballots, and 1,814 ballots cast in person on Election Day. All results are preliminary and official, and do not include a number of provisional ballots or any Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, or UOCAVA votes, which will be processed and included in the vote totals that will be certified by the Stephens County Board of Elections on Friday. 

In Stephens County-specific races on the ballot, the only contested seat was Stephens County Commission Post 3, where Republican candidate Craig Oglesby received 10,414 (82%) votes and Democrat candidate Justin Richie received 2,248 (18%) votes. The Post 3 seat is currently held by Dennis Bell, who resigned his seat to run for Stephens County Sheriff in the primary election earlier this year. Oglesby will take office on January 1, 2025, but will begin required commissioner training next month, and has been attending commission meetings and work sessions throughout the year to prepare for the possibility of a win in last night’s election. 

WNEG News spoke with Oglesby shortly after election results were announced last night, and he said he was grateful to the voters for their support and very pleased by the turnout.

He stressed that, with the election over, he is here to serve all citizens, regardless of their vote.

He added that training would begin soon before he took seat on Jan. 1, and he has been preparing for the past year to be ready to be active immediately. 

The remainder of local seats up for election were uncontested. Details on uncontested local races are included below.

 

Statewide 

Across the state, residents voted in the biennial election for the Georgia General Assembly. Every even-numbered year, the 56 Georgia state senate seats and the 180 state representative seats are up for election. In Georgia State Senate District 50, which represents Stephens County as well as Banks, Habersham, Rabun, and towns counties, and the eastern parts of Hall and White Counties, Republican Incumbent Bo Hatchett is the projected winner in a race against Democrat candidate June Krise. In Stephens County, Hatchett received 10,591 (83%) votes, while Krise received 2,156 (17%) votes, nearly mirroring the district-wide vote where Hatchett received 82,730 (84%) votes and Krise received 15,770 (16%). The results across the district in each county were similar in proportion, with Krise having her strongest showing in East Hall County, where she received 30% of the vote. 

In Georgia State House District 32, Republican incumbent Chris Erwin will retain his seat after running unopposed in the General Election. District 32 covers Stephens, Banks and parts of Jackson counties. 

Also on the ballot were three statewide ballot measures, all three of which passed. 

For Proposed Constitutional Amendment 1 regarding the institution of a statewide homestead tax exemption, locally there were 7,194 (51%) votes in favor of the amendment and 5,083 (49%) against. Statewide, there were 3,073,148 (63%) yes votes and 1,810,190 (37%) no votes.  

For Proposed Constitutional Amendment 2 creating a state tax court, locally there were 5,624 (46%) votes in favor of the amendment and 6,486 (54%) against. However, statewide, there were 2,507,567 (52%) yes votes and 2,325,298 (48%) no votes.  

For Proposed State Statue A increasing the personal property tax exemption, locally there were 7,564 (61%) votes in favor of the amendment and 4,813 (39%) against. Statewide, there were 3,201,924 (64.5%) yes votes and 1,762,399 (35.5%) no votes.  

 

Federal Election

In the race for the US House of Representatives – District 9 seat, Stephens County voters gave Republican incumbent Andrew Clyde 10,592 (83%) votes, and Democrat candidate Tambrei Cash 2,192 (17%) votes. District-wide, Clyde took the election with 270,820 (69%) votes against Cash’s 121,564 (31%) votes. Also, Republicans have won control of the U.S. Senate, retaking the chamber for the first time in four years.

In the Presidential election, Stephens County voters gave the Republican Trump ticket 10,630 (81%) votes, the Harris ticket 2,403 (18%) and less than 100 votes split between the remaining minor party tickets. In Georgia, the Trump ticket received 69,846,555 votes (51.1%) votes while the Harris ticket received 64,724,347 votes (47.4%) votes. Slightly before 6 a.m. this morning, Trump was declared the winner of the Presidential Election as, With a win in Wisconsin, he cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the Presidency. 

As of 10:15 a.m. today, Nov. 6, Harris has not yet conceded the race, despite Trump securing the needed 270 electoral votes. 

 

In Closing

Although election day was calm in Stephens County and across northeast Georgia, voting in 12 metro Atlanta precincts in Gwinnett and Fulton counties was extended beyond the 7 p.m. closing time due to bomb threats. According to statements made by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensbuger, the threats, which he called “non-credible,” originated from Russia.

The Stephens County Board of Elections and registration will conduct a Risk Limiting Audit of the November 05  General Election on a Federal race randomly selected by the Secretary of State. The audit will begin at 9:00 am on Friday, November 15 and must be completed by Tuesday, November 19.  The audit will be conducted at the Historic Courthouse located at 37 West Tugalo Street and the public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

 

 

UNCONTESTED SEATS

State House of Representatives – District 32

Chris Erwin (I) (Rep)

Votes 11,596

 

District Attorney – Mountain Judicial Circuit

George R. Christian (I) (Rep)

Votes 11,505

 

Clerk of Superior Court

Tim Quick (I) (Rep)

Votes 11,822

 

Sheriff

Rusty Fulbright (Rep)

Votes 11,804

 

Tax Commissioner

Dene Hicks (I) (Rep)

Votes 11,656

 

Coroner

Kyle Johnson (Rep)

Votes 11,564

 

Solicitor of State Court

Ann Pickett (I) (Rep)

Votes 11,477

 

County Commission – Post 2

Debbie Whitlock (I) (Rep)

Votes 11,345

 

School Board – At Large

Len Stovall (I) (Rep)

Votes 11,490

 

School Board – District 1 Post 1

Wendy Dawkins (I) (Rep)

Votes 11,401

 

School Board – District 3 Post 2

Pam Hill (Rep)

Votes 11,374