Year in Review: Race for State House District 28 seat ends, after almost a yearlong fight
Chris Erwin ultimately won the House District 28 seat in April
As we always do this time of year, we take a look back at some of the big local stories of the year.
2019 started off with the continued fight for the District 28 State House Seat.
Former State Representative Dan Gasaway lost his seat to newcomer Chris Erwin after over a year long fight that began in May 2018 and ended in Banks County Superior Court in April 2019.
After losing to Erwin in May 2018, Gasaway sued Erwin and the Habersham County Elections office claiming some voters in the County, which is divided into two House districts, were given the wrong ballots.
A Judge agreed and ordered a second primary for December, 2018.
In that race, Erwin won by just two votes, and after a recount Gasaway again sued Erwin in Banks County Superior Court in early January of this year, claiming again some votes were illegal.
Dan Gasaway lost his bid to keep his House seat
In February, after four days of testimony, Senior Superior Court Judge David Sweat ruled that four votes in the December 4th Special Primary were illegal and ordered a third special primary election for April.
In that election, Erwin won by a landslide.
Afterwards, Gasaway said even though he lost, he believes the fight to ensure fair and honest elections was worth it.
“At this point I just want to thank everybody for their support in the last six year,” he said. “I hate that it ended this way, but I really feel like legal and accurate elections are something that we need to be concerned about. Again, I hate that all this has transpired, but I think the State will be better for it because it put this on Raffensberger’s radar screen. And he’s made a commitment to me that he wants to see it cleaned up.”
When asked if he plans to run again for the District 28 seat Gasaway told WNEG News he’s ready to get on with his life and he has no regrets.
“Well, I’ve never faced and I’ve never seen a campaign as nasty as the one waged against me. And it’s taken a lot out of me and it’s taken a lot out of my family. Right now, I just want to put this behind me. I feel like I’ve served the people with honesty and dignity the past six years and I can live with that and go to the next chapter in my life,” Gasaway concluded.
Gasaway’s attorney lost a subsequent suit in July when he sued for court costs.
This was a look-back at one of the major stories in WNEG’s 2019 Year in Review