This online news website is owned and operated by Becky Watts. The Editor can be reached at 770-468-7583 or at editor(at)PikeCountyTimes(dot)com. Pike County Times is a website for citizens to keep up with local events and stay informed about Pike County government. It began on November 13, 2006 as a watchdog on county government and has turned into an online newspaper.
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ZEBULON - It is a party in front of the Courthouse in Zebulon tonight. With the renovations, everyone but poll workers were outside on the lawn. Kids ran and played and adults just hung out around the courthouse steps waiting for Probate Judge Brandenburg to read the results from each race aloud.
Voter turnout in Pike County was better than the state average of 30.85%. Of the 10,278 registered voters in Pike County, 4,193 cast votes tonight. 40.80% of our registered voters went out and voted today. Tonight's results are unofficial and will become official on Friday afternoon. Until then, there are three military ballots and two provisional ballots that could be included in the final results. Final results are as follows:
In the US House of Representatives race, Incumbent Congressman Lynn Westmoreland won 68.05% of the vote in Pike County with 2,518 votes. Kent Kingsley had 669 votes and Chip Flanagan had 513. To see how this race has done in the entire Congressional District, click here.
State House District 131 (formerly held by Rep. Billy Maddox) was won by Johnnie Caldwell, Jr. over Ryan Christopher by a small margin on 1,883 (51.73%) to 1,757 (48.27%) in Pike County. Johnnie Caldwell, Jr. won overall in our distict with a vote of 4,973 (51.80%) to Ryan Christopher's 4,628 votes (48.20%).
In the race for Pike County Sheriff, Incumbent Jimmy Thomas won with 2,826 (74.45%) of the votes against challenger Gary Hammock who won 970 (25.55%) of the vote.
In the race for Chief Magistrate, there will be a run off. Marcia Callaway-Ingram received 1,751 votes (47.93%), Loretta Rakestraw received 953 votes (26.09%), and Wayne Woods received 949 (25.98%) votes. At this time, the run off is scheduled between Incumbent Callaway-Ingram and Loretta Rakestraw. However, there are 5 outstanding ballots that could make a difference in this race. The runoff will be held on August 21, 2012. (And don't ever say that one vote doesn't count!)
In the County Commission Chairman race, Briar Johnson won with 2,253 (62.07%) of the vote against Incumbent Doug Mangham who received 1,377 (37.93%) of the votes.
In the County Commission District 4 race, Incumbent Don Collins lost to rival James Jenkins by a vote of 490 (44.34%) to 615 (55.66%).
In the Board of Education District 4 race, there will be run off on July 21, 2012 between Jim Brooks and Connie Green. Robert E. Adams, Jr. received 69 votes (10.66%), Jim Brooks received 245 votes (37.87%), Connie Green received 195 votes (30.14%), and Marty Wynn received 135 votes (20.87%).
In the Board of Education District 5 race, Incumbent April Byrd won over challenger Parrish Swift by a margin of 371 votes (54.08%) to 314 (45.77%).
The Three Rivers District T-SPLOST (one cent sales tax over a ten county district for transportation in our distict) failed in Pike County by a margin of 1,112 (27.08%) yes to 2,995 (72.92%) no. Overall, the T-SPLOST in our area failed by a two to one margin with 25,275 (30.72%) voting yes and 57,013 (69.28%) voting no. To see how this race has done in the entire Congressional District, click here. Click on the summary and the colored counties on the map to see a complete breakdown of how each county voted.