Incumbents Across Georgia Fall As Local Runoff Elections Wrap

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A number of incumbents across Georgia fell in runoff election Tuesday night.

As results from runoff elections across the state were finalized Tuesday night, one trend emerged: voters wanted change.

Incumbents across the state fell in mayoral and city council elections, while a new House representative was voted into Georgia’s legislature.

The turnover started in Albany, where current Mayor Dorothy Brown lost to challenger Bo Dorough, who received 52% of the vote.

In Doraville, the incumbent’s defeat was even larger. Joseph Geierman garnered 65% of the vote to defeat Donna Pittman. That trend continued throughout many towns in Georgia. Andersonville, Blakely and Smithville will all have new mayors after their incumbents lost.

But it was perhaps Savannah who saw biggest upset. Not only did Van Johnson beat out Eddie DeLoach but also Kurtis Purtee defeated Alderman Tony Thomas, who had served in the position for about two decades.

The election results weren’t only for mayor and city council. The seat in House District 152, which was vacated by Republican Ed Rynders, will be filled by Bill Yearta who defeated Jim Quinn.

Down in Valdosta, the race between Scott James Matheson and J.D. Rice remains too close to call.  Matheson leads by a little more than a hundred votes and final results are expected by Friday. In Smyrna, Derek Norton was elected to succeed Max Bacon who retired after having been in office for 34 years.