Local races weren’t a draw for Screven County voters Tuesday, but 1,525 people, or 16.5 percent of the registered voters, cast ballots for governor and a number of other state and national races.
At least one polling place in the county reported some problems. Voter Sandra Powell said the fire department on Old Poor Robin Road was not open when she stopped at 7:05 a.m., on her way to work in Savannah. Polls are supposed to open by 7 a.m.
She said the touch-screen machines were not working. She made telephone calls to the state elections office and the county supervisor of elections. By 7:50 a.m., she was offered a paper provisional ballot.
 “There was a gentleman there who got to the polls before me who also was still waiting,” Powell said. “He saw I was getting one of the provisional ballots and said, ‘I guess I better get one of those too.’”
Elections Supervisor Debbie Brown said there was a problem with the machine at that polling place and that Powell left the building or she would have been offered a paper ballot sooner. A total of six paper, provisional ballots were filled out county-wide all day Tuesday.
Local races won’t get interesting until the Nov. 2 general election, when incumbent Roland Stubbs, a Republican, will take on challenger Jimmy Bennett, a Democrat, in the District 7 county commission race. Incumbents Will Boyd and Gregg Ellison face no opposition for the county commission.
On the Democratic side of the governor’s race, 42 percent of Screven County voters, or 327, voted for Roy Barnes, while 38 percent, or 294, voted for Thurbert Baker. Coming in third was David Poythress with 12 percent, or 95 votes. In the Republican primary, Karen Handel won 43 percent, with 310 votes, followed by Eric Johnson with 28 percent, or 203 votes and John Oxendine with 12 percent, or 86 votes.
Word didn’t get out to many voters in Screven County that Kathy Cox had withdrawn from the race for state school superintendent. She got 54 percent of the vote in Screven County, or 372 votes, while John Barge and Richard Woods each collected 156 votes, or 23 percent.
 
Cox resigned days after qualifying for re-election, to take a job with a non-profit in Washington, D.C.

In U.S. House District 12, challenger Regina Thomas won 51 percent of the vote in Screven County, or 395 votes, to incumbent John Barrow’s 49 percent, or 378 votes. Republican Raymond McKinney won in Screven County with 298 votes, or 47 percent.

District-wide, Barrow defeated Thomas, a former Democratic state senator, in their second primary matchup since 2008. Thomas hammered Barrow’s conservative voting record that included a vote against Obama’s health care overhaul.

Still, unofficial returns showed Barrow winning with 58 percent of the vote. Thomas had 42 percent, with 99 percent of precincts reporting. The incumbent said he hopes to win those voters back by November.
“The things we have in common are going to count a lot more in the general election than the things we disagreed on in the primary,” Barrow said.
Thomas conceded defeat, but said she won’t be endorsing Barrow in the fall election.
A four-way Republican race for Barrow’s seat ended with a runoff set for Aug. 10 between the top two finishers — Ray McKinney, a Lyons project manager, and Carl Smith, a fire chief from Thunderbolt.
Here are Screven County results from Tuesday’s election:

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Governor’s Race
ATLANTA (AP) — After emerging from a crowded field of Republicans vying for governor, Nathan Deal and Karen Handel now turn their attention to a three-week runoff battle to win over conservative voters.
The victor on Aug. 10 will take on Democrat Roy Barnes in November, who coasted to a commanding win Tuesday night in his bid to win his old job back.
Handel — the lone woman in the field — rode the strength of a game-changing endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to lead the GOP field. Deal hammered home his conservative credentials.
Meanwhile, state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, the race’s one-time front-runner who held a big cash advantage, saw his support fall off a cliff. He finished fourth behind former state Sen. Eric Johnson.
Deal and Handel have already been attacking each other for weeks. That will only intensify in a runoff, when candidates are under a tight deadline to make their case to voters.
On the Democratic side, Barnes trounced a crowded field to pull in 66 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns. His closest competitor was Attorney General Thurbert Baker, who had 22 percent of the vote.
Baker said his bid “came up a little short.” “But we gave it our all, and that’s all you could ever ask,” he said, promising to back Barnes.
Barnes quickly turned his sites to the November general election and his would-be Republican rivals.
“They are both members of the team that brought Georgia to the place where we are right now,” he said to a cheering ballroom at an Atlanta hotel. “They are part of the team that gave tax breaks to special interests and then had to lay off teachers and shorten the school year to cover up their mistakes.”
The Republican Governor’s Association quickly weighed in, saying Barnes “had his shot to be governor and failed miserably.”
Handel — who would become Georgia’s first female governor if elected — called her lead against a field of six male opponents “a big milestone for women across this state.”
Handel’s opponents and groups such as Georgia Right to Life had cast Handel as too liberal throughout the race. Palin vouched for her conservative credentials, while Deal repeatedly cast himself as the true conservative in the race.
Even with the runoff looming, both Handel and Deal took shots at Barnes on Tuesday night.
“We’re going to put an end to Roy’s political career once and for all,” Handel said.
“I heard former Gov. Roy Barnes say the battle starts now,” Deal said. “He’s right. It starts right now.”
For his part, Oxendine said he was proud he “changed some things and helped some people’s lives” in his 16 years as insurance commissioner.
“I’m not the first person to lose an election, and I won’t be the last,” Oxendine said. “I do love life, and I love Georgia.”
Johnson conceded defeat and said he was proud of his campaign’s efforts.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial returns showed Handel with 34 percent of the vote to Deal’s 23 percent. Johnson received 20 percent, while Oxendine had 17 percent.
Barnes and Baker were among seven Democrats on the ballot. The others were House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, former Georgia National Guard Commander David Poythress, ex-Ray City Mayor Carl Camon, state Rep. Randal Mangham and businessman Bill Bolton. Each drew less than 6 percent of the vote.
The other Republicans on the ballot were state Sen. Jeff Chapman, states’ rights activist Ray McBerry and Wal-Mart sales associate Otis Putnam. Each drew less than 4 percent of the vote.

Voter Turnout

Meanwhile, Republican voters outpaced their Democratic counterparts by more than 285,000 votes in Tuesday’s primary election — a first in Georgia’s history.
Overall, about 1.1 million Georgians — or 22 percent of active registered voters — cast ballots in the gubernatorial contest, which drew the most votes. Observers say Republicans were likely energized by last-minute endorsements in a more compelling race.
Handel, who hails from Roswell, dominated metro Atlanta, where the majority of voters live, and all of the Republican candidates for governor did well in their own backyards. Barnes, seen all along as the Democratic nominee, dominated the state and was likely bolstered by black voter turnout, trouncing Baker, who sought to become the state’s first African-American governor.

Labor Commissioner
In the Democratic primary for state labor commissioner, voting was so close there may be a recount.
With all precincts reporting, unofficial returns show Darryl Hicks leading longtime state lawmaker Terry Coleman by 526 votes out of more than 331,000 cast in Tuesday’s primary. That’s a margin of less than 1 percent, which allows Coleman to petition for a recount.
Coleman’s campaign manager did not immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment.
Hicks ran on his more than 20 years experience working for the parent company of Atlanta Gas Light. Coleman is a former Georgia House speaker.
The winning Democrat will face Republican Rep. Mark Butler in the general election. Democrats have held the office of labor commissioner since it was created in 1938.

State Runoffs
Voters will be casting ballots in at least 21 races in the Aug. 10 runoff after candidates in those contests were unable to secure more than 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary.
In addition to the Handel-Deal fight for the Republican nomination for governor, other runoffs for statewide office include the Democratic race for secretary of state and Republican races for attorney general, insurance commissioner and the Public Service Commission.
Four congressional races, all Republican, also head to runoffs, including the District 9 race in north Georgia between newly elected Rep. Tom Graves and challenger Lee Hawkins.
It will be the fourth time this year that Graves and Hawkins face each other for the congressional seat vacated by Deal.
Complete election results are available at: http://www.sos.georgia.gov/.