Incumbents have strong night in Lumpkin County; Clyde wins big in District 9

It was a good evening for incumbent candidates, and Republicans overall, in the General Election Tuesday night in Lumpkin County, according to unofficial results posted to the Georgia Secretary of State’s website.

In the hotly contested U.S. Senate race, Republican challenger Herschel Walker was the clear choice of Lumpkin County voters, dominating incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock by a tally of 9,428 votes to 2,275. As of late Tuesday night, however, neither candidate was above the critical 50% threshold in the race. Warnock clung to a narrow lead over Walker statewide, with 88% of precincts reporting. Libertarian Chase Oliver collected more than 2% of the vote.

In the race for the U.S. House of Representatives seat representing District 9, Republican incumbent Andrew Clyde won the support of 9,857 Lumpkin voters, while 2,116 voters lent their support to Democratic challenger Michael “Mike” Ford. In the overall race, Clyde held an impressive lead Tuesday night, holding on to nearly 75% of the vote with 92.86% of the district’s total votes reported.

Back at the state level, Republican Governor Brian Kemp cruised to victory over Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams, easily securing a second term. Lumpkin County voters overwhelmingly agreed with that decision, with Governor Kemp securing 10,137 local votes compared to only 1,840 votes for Democrat Stacey Abrams.

Likewise, Lumpkin County chose Republican Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones over Democrat Charlie Bailey, but by a slightly smaller margin, with Jones receiving 9,715 votes compared to 2,001 for the challenger Bailey.

Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger received the support of 9,560 Lumpkin voters, while his opponent, Democrat Bee Nguyen, got 1,754 votes.

Local residents chose to return incumbent Attorney General Chris Carr (R) to his post with 9,772 votes compared to 2,013 votes for challenger Jennifer “Jen” Jordan (D).

Republican Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper defeated Democrat Nakita Heminway in Lumpkin by a tally of 9,910 votes to 1,759.

John King (R), incumbent Commissioner of Insurance, was selected over Democrat Janice Laws Robinson by a total of 10,052 to 1,889 local votes.

Lumpkin County picked Republican Bruce Thompson for Commissioner of Labor with 9,740 votes to 1,850 votes for his opponent, Democrat William “Will” Boddie, Jr.

For State School Superintendent, Lumpkin voters indicated their preference for incumbent Republican Richard Woods, who received 10,052 votes. Democratic challenger Alisha Thomas Searcy, meanwhile, received 1,901 votes.

Voters in Lumpkin chose to return a total of seven unopposed Republican incumbents to their posts.

Rhett Stringer was re-elected as County Commissioner for District 3 with a total of 10,781 votes, while Jeff Moran will return as County Commissioner for District 4 with 10,695 votes.

Jeff Langley was re-elected District Attorney for the Enotah Judicial Circuit with a total of 10,749 votes. Upper Chattahoochee River Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Tracy Lee Grizzle was also re-elected, with a total of 10,549 votes.

Three more Republicans ran unopposed for state offices. Lumpkin voters approved another term for incumbent State Senator Steve Gooch with 10,595 votes. In the 9th District, incumbent State House Representative Will Wade received 9,421 votes. Meanwhile, incumbent State House Representative Lee Hawkins received the support of 1,201 Lumpkin voters.

It was a clean sweep for General Election ballot questions in Lumpkin County, as voters approved two state Constitutional Amendments and two Statewide Referendums on the General Election ballot.

Residents voted for an amendment to provide “for suspension of compensation of certain State officers and members of the General Assembly” by a tally of 10,531 votes to 1,253 votes. A second amendment providing “for temporary local tax relief after disasters” was similarly approved at the local level by 10,864 votes to 1,015.

A statewide referendum providing “for ad valorem tax exemption for certain timber production, reforestation, and harvesting equipment” was also approved by Lumpkin voters, but by the smallest margin of the four questions asked, with a total of 6,592 votes for and 5,072 against. The second referendum expanding “ad valorem tax exemption for family-owned farms” received the support of 9,357 voters, while 2,369 opposed the measure.

As for the the single-question Special Election in Lumpkin County, voters chose to renew the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) by an unofficial tally of 3,221 votes to 2,308. This total does not yet include provisional ballots.