THOMASVILLE- In a tight runoff at the polls, incumbent S. Andrew “Andy” Seery lost to Matt Shiner for the non-partisan position of Chief Magistrate Judge.
The election saw a turnout of 2,657 voters, 1,486 of whom voted on Election Day.
Seery had 722 individuals vote for him on Election Day, while Shiner had 755. With such close numbers, it would come down to what early voting and absentee ballots showed.
During advanced voting, 446 voters marked their ballot for Seery, while 592 marked their ballot for Shiner.
Seery did see an uptick of voters in the absentee by-mail, category, where he received 79 votes compared to Shiner’s 51 votes by mail. Ultimately, Shiner came out victorious, receiving 1,398 votes, while Shiner took home 1,247.
In the US House of Representatives District 2 Republican runoff race, A. Wayne Johnson nearly tripled that of his opponent, Chuck Hand in Thomas County.
Hand received 340 votes on Election Day and only 172 votes during advanced voting. Johnson fared much better on both Election Day and during advanced voting, receiving 708 votes and 594 votes, respectively.
Hand received 15 absentee by mail, while Johnson received 41, totaling 1,343 votes for Johnson and 527 votes for Hand.
All results are unofficial until verified by the Secretary of State’s office. However, all absentee ballots, early voting ballots, and Election Day ballots in all 20 polling locations have been counted.