VOTES CAST
Bruce Reed 826Greg E. Hogan 558Brittany D. Pittman 527Tom Starnes 452Steven Noland 387Ricky L. Pritchett 329Dwight Scott 269Jim Hazel 206Frank Adams 193Stephen Richards 131Larry E. Morrison 103Johnny Stover 101Jason Griffin 92Leonard "Leo" Worley 24Paul Hall 18
CHATSWORTH, Ga. - A former Eton mayor and a Murray County business owner will face off in a runoff election for sole commissioner after getting the most votes in a special called election Tuesday.
Bruce Reed had 856 votes or 20 percent, and Greg Hogan received 558 votes or 13 percent. The runoff will be held July 19.
With 15 candidates in the race, neither of men had the required 50 percent of the ballots plus one vote.
About 22 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the election to replace David Ridley. Ridley resigned in March, shortly after a county employee filed a sexual harassment complaint against him with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
A crowd, including many of the candidates, gathered at the Murray County election office Tuesday evening to wait for the results in what has been a closely watched election.
Hogan said he was excited to be the second-highest vote-getter and ready to get back out on the campaign trail. Hogan served as mayor of Eton four years before resigning to run for sole commissioner in 2008. He lost that election to Ridley.
Although he acknowledged Reed had an impressive lead in Tuesday's election, Hogan said he brings more experience to the table.
"I've dealt with the governor. I know what it takes to be a commissioner," he said.
Reed, whose family has worked in the lumber industry for more than 100 years, said his experience in running the family business gives him more than enough experience.
"We deal with people every day. I've been doing this for 25 years," he said.
The position of sole commissioner pays an annual salary of $98,174.
A normal term is four years, but because this is a special election, whoever wins will serve until December 2012.
Contact Mariann Martin at 706-980-5824 or mmartin@timesfreepress.com.