Kip Smith wins Georgia House 129 race to take father's vacant seat

Columbus businessman Kip Smith won a runoff election Tuesday to fill the Georgia House seat vacated by his father, Vance Smith.

Kip Smith, 27, got 65 percent of the vote in the District 129 race that includes parts of Muscogee, Harris and Troup counties. He defeated Pine Mountain businessman Steve Earles.

Vance Smith held the seat for 17 years before resigning in June to accept the commissioner's job with the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The younger Smith, who was just 10 when his father won the seat in the General Assembly, said it is an honor to follow his father to Atlanta.

"It is a privilege because I know my dad held this seat with the utmost respect for the people he represented," Kip Smith said. "It will be a big challenge to live up to the example he has created."

There were 3,070 votes cast, according to unofficial totals from the Secretary of State's office. Smith got 2,005, while Earles picked up 1,065. Smith won all three counties, including large margins in Muscogee and Harris. The ballots cast represent less than 10 percent of the registered voters in the district.