Democrat Eric Gisler pulled out a squeaker Tuesday night, defeating Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest by 197 votes in the House District 121 Special Election to replace Republican Marcus Wiedower, who stepped down on Oct. 28.
Gisler won by increasing his vote percentage in Oconee County from the 26.0 percent of the vote he received in the county in his 2024 challenge of Wiedower to 35.5 percent against Guest on Tuesday night.
He also increased his percentage in Clarke County from 64.7 percent in 2024 to 82.3 percent on Tuesday night.
At the same time, canvassing efforts in Clarke County increased the turnout so that 34.7 percent of the votes cast on Tuesday came from Clarke County.
Clarke County registered voters are 34.7 percent of the voters in the District.
In the 2024 race, only 24.9 percent of the votes in the 121 House District race came from Clarke County.
The Republican Party also had strong turnout efforts in Oconee County, and Gisler’s 35.5 percent of the vote in Oconee County falls short of the 41.2 and 41.8 percent of the vote received in Oconee County on Nov. 4 by Democratic Public Service Commission candidates Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard respectively.
The last Democrat to represent Oconee County in the General Assembly in recent history was Jonathan Wallace, who defeated Wiedower and two other Republican candidates in a special election in November of 2017 with 37.8 percent of the Oconee County vote.
Oconee Voting
Gisler won 38.6 percent of Advance In Person voting in Oconee County, 74.1 percent of the Absentee By Mail vote, and 29.0 percent of the Election Day voting.
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| House District 121 Results 2024 And 2025 (Click To Enlarge) |
Two-thirds of the vote cast were Advance In Person, with 33.1 percent cast on Election Day. Only 27 votes were cast Absentee By Mail, or less than a percent of the total 7,765 votes cast.
Gisler received 37.9 percent of the vote cast in Oconee Central, 31.2 percent of the vote cast in Oconee South, and 27.0 percent of the votes cast in Dark Corner.
Total turnout in the county was 30.4 percent. That figure was 31.5 percent in Oconee Central, 35.8 percent in Oconee South, and 21.4 percent in Dark Corner.
Turnout in the 2024 election in Oconee County was 86.1 percent.
Results are unofficial, and two votes are listed as unresolved write-ins. They will not be counted since no official write-in candidate filed for the race.
Oconee County’s fourth precinct, Oconee Northeast, is in House District 120, so voters did not cast a ballot on Tuesday.,
Clarke County Voting
House District 121 cuts across 10 of the 25 precincts in Clarke County, and includes only two whole precincts, 1C and 8C.
Early voting took place downtown until the final week, when it also was held at the Tennis Center, 4460 Lexington Road.
Early In Person Voting accounted for 45.2 percent of the vote in Clarke. Absentee By Mail made up 0.9 percent, and Election Day voting made up 53.9 percent.
Gisler received 86.0 percent of the Advance In Person voting, all but one of the 34 Absentee By Mail votes, and 79.0 percent of the Election Day voting.
Gisler received 86.1 percent of the 868 votes cast in Precinct 1C, and 84.3 percent of the 796 votes cast in Precinct 8C.
Gisler is a product manager with insurance technology startup Assurified and owner of the retail store Olive Basket, which is moving from Epps Bridge Centre to downtown Athens.
Guest is vice president of LAD Truck Lines, a logistics company with warehouses and operations space on Barnett Shoals Road in Watkinsville abutting Wire Park.
Both are residents of Oconee County.
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