Gordon turns out in historic numbers for runoff
Nearly 55% of Gordon County voters, 20,366 out of a total 37,176, cast ballots in the General Election runoff on Tuesday, marking a continuation of already historic voter turnout following the November presidential election.
“In runoff elections we normally don’t have anywhere near this many people vote,” Shea Hicks, chair of the Gordon County Board of Elections and Voter Registration Office, said, noting that the turnout for early voting was nearly on par with that of the presidential election. This is especially impor
tant to note, as early voting was also at a record high in November, with more than 10,800 ballots cast ahead of election day.
In contrast, the runoff saw
8,870 ballots cast at the polls on election day, and 8,202 in-person early votes. There were 2,285 absentee by-mail ballots.
Republican candidates for Senate David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler received the majority of the Gordon County vote, as did Republican Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr., an incumbent, in the race for Public Service Commission District 4.
With 12 of 12 Gordon County precincts reporting, Perdue secured 16,462 votes as compared to Jon Ossoff’s 3,875. Loeffler received 16,415 votes, representing 81% of the local vote, while Raphael Warnock secured 3,924. In the runoff race for Public Service Commission District 4, McDonald took Gordon County with 16,385 votes over Democrat Daniel Blackman.
At the state level, Democrat challengers Ossoff and Warnock gained enough ground to win their races and to deliver control of the Senate to their party, according to results posted to the Georgia Secretary of State website.
Warnock received 50.84% of the vote statewide for a total of 2,260,290 votes. With all 159 counties and 2,656 precincts reporting, Ossoff took home 50.41% of the vote in Georgia for a total of 2,241,340 votes.
McDonald was the only Republican to secure a win at the state level on
Tuesday, taking home 50.57% of the vote in his race against Blackman.
Ossoff and Warnock’s victories represent a historic shift in voting attitudes within the state, which has been solidly red since Zell Miller left office in 2005. Both men also made history in other ways.
Ossoff, at 33, will be the youngest member of the Senate when he is sworn into office, while Warnock is the first-ever African-American U.S. senator from Georgia.
To view the results of the Jan. 5 General Election Runoff for Gordon County, visit www.gordoncounty.org.