Live updates: Skip Henderson nears victory in mayor’s race, Reese defeats Baker
Columbus voters will select a mayor, several council and school board members in addition to casting votes in important statewide races Tuesday.
Here are the latest updates from the May 24 primary election, including vote totals for local and statewide races:
12:15 a.m. — With every precinct reporting, Teddy Reese has likely defeated Zeph Baker to replace Calvin Smyre in the newly redrawn State House District 140.
Reese received 1,566 votes (57.57%) to Baker’s 1,154 (42.43%). Vote totals are unofficial and some early votes need to be rescanned.
11:45 p.m. — With more than 20,000 ballots cast, Skip Henderson saw his lead shrink slightly, but he maintains a 58.61% to 41.39% over John Anker.
11:10 p.m. — With 73% of the votes counted, it appears Republicans Jeremy Hunt and Chris West are heading for a runoff in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District. The winner will take on Sanford Bishop in November.
Hunt leads with 16,821 votes (34.32%) to West’s 15,803 (32.24%). Hunt is a 28-year-old former U.S. Army Captain and Fox News commentator who recently moved to Columbus. West, 38, is an attorney for a Thomasville real estate development company and an officer in the Georgia Air National Guard.
10:35 p.m. — Muscogee County elections staff in Columbus will rescan all ballots cast early in person at the City Service Center for the May 24 election because a memory card containing some of that data would not read, said Nancy Boren, elections director. About 8,000 ballots were cast there, she said.
10:30 p.m. — In the race to replace Calvin Smyre, attorney Teddy Reese leads Zeph Baker in the Georgia House District 140 race, 1,015 to 816.
10:10 p.m. — Skip Henderson continues to lead the mayor’s race over John Anker, 8,530 to 5,455, according to the latest election data.
Below are charts for the other Columbus races. They have updated with new data.
“Yes” votes for the regional TSPLOST lead, 7,124 to 6,726
Currently, 14,338 ballots have been counted, representing just over 12% of the county’s registered voter population.
9:30 p.m. — More than two hours after polls closed, county election officials released the first tally of votes.
In the Columbus mayor’s race, incumbent Skip Henderson leads John Anker in the Columbus mayor’s race, 4,774 to 2,481.
In the Columbus Council District 9, At-Large race, incumbent Judy Thomas leads. The totals are:
- Doug Redmond, 589
- Carl Sprayberry, 261
- Thomas, 3,388
- “Nia” Alyssa Williams, 1,366
- Vickey Williams-Wiley, 1,212
In Columbus Council District 3, incumbent Bruce Huff leads challenger Demarco “D1” Johnson, 749 to 364.
In Columbus Council District 5, incumbent Charmaine Crabb leads. The totals are:
- John Adams III, 72
- Crabb, 192
- Carmella Morales, 39
In Columbus Council District 7, Joane Cogle leads. The totals are:
- Laketha Ashe, 88
- Cogle, 100
- Sia Etemadi, 70
- Juanita Taylor, 64
In the Muscogee County School Board 2nd District, Nickie Tillery leads Sadiyah Abdullah, 1,349 to 286.
In the Muscogee County School Board 6th District, incumbent Mark Cantrell leads Zebulon Harris, 482 to 143.
In the Muscogee County School Board 8th District, Margot Schley leads Sarah Smith, 225 to 219.
So far, more Columbus voters are in favor of the 1% TSPLOST. “Yes” leads 3,915 to 3,261.
8:37 p.m. — David Perdue, the former U.S. Senator who was drawn into Georgia’s Republican primary for governor by former President Donald Trump, has conceded. Brian Kemp is the Republican nominee.
Perdue told supporters in Atlanta that he “called the governor and I congratulated him” before 8:30 p.m., the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Kemp and Abrams will face off in the 2022 governor’s race, a rematch of the close 2018 election.
8:15 p.m. — While we are still awaiting ballot counts from Columbus, the field is set for November’s U.S. Senate election. The Associated Press has called the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in favor of Herschel Walker and the Democratic primary for incumbent Raphael Warnock.
Walker, a former Heisman Trophy winner for the Georgia Bulldogs and star running back in the NFL, secured the endorsement of Trump and remained the front-runner throughout the race. Warnock was elected to the U.S. Senate in the January 2021 runoff, defeating Kelly Loeffler.
These were the second and third races the Associated Press called this evening. The AP declared Stacey Abrams the Democrat nominee for Georgia governor. She faced no opposition.
7 p.m. — Polling places have now closed across Georgia.
Early voting totals will be released first. According to data from the county elections board, a total of 10,836 Democratic ballots had been accepted compared to 5,107 Republican ballots as of Friday, the final day of early voting. More than 87% of the Columbus ballots accepted came from early, in-person voting.
Statewide races of note
This story was originally published May 24, 2022 at 7:03 PM.