Independent candidate Kalki Yalamanchili defeated Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez in a landslide Tuesday with help from Athens Democrats.
Yalamanchili and Gonzalez split the vote right down the middle in Clarke County, where 69% of voters cast their ballots for Kamala Harris. It appears that about 10,000 people voted for Harris, then against Gonzalez down-ballot.
In heavily Republican Oconee County, Yalamanchili won 75% of the vote—similar to the numbers James Chafin achieved in 2020. All told, Yalamanchili won 59.5% of more than 75,000 votes cast.
Gonzalez leaned heavily into her partisan persona, declaring herself a proud pro-abortion rights Democrat and trying to tie Yalamanchili to the MAGA movement and Donald Trump. First elected in 2020 in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder by a police officer and massive nationwide protests against the criminal justice system, she asked voters for four more years to implement progressive reforms.
Yalamanchili, meanwhile, criticized Gonzalez as incompetent, citing chronic staff shortages and various courtroom errors made by her and her team. He pledged to successfully prosecute violent criminals while also utilizing accountability courts so that defendants with mental health or substance abuse issues can access treatment.
“I’m looking forward to giving this city the district attorney’s office it deserves, one that delivers justice for all and does the right thing the right way regardless of if anyone’s watching,” Yalamanchili told a bipartisan crowd of about 100 people during a victory speech at Big Dog’s on the River.
Gonzalez attended the Athens-Clarke County Democrats’ watch party at Little Kings but had left before Flagpole arrived.
In other local races, Republicans won as expected. Tenth District congressman Mike Collins defeated Democrat Lexy Doherty 63%-37%. State Reps. Houston Gaines (R-Athens), Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville) and Trey Rhodes (R-Greensboro), along with state Sens. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) and Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville) all won by more than 20 points. Republicans in the Georgia legislature drew those districts to be safe for the GOP.
The numbers were reversed in Clarke County, where Democratic challengers won by big margins. But Clarke County makes up just a small portion of each of those districts, and the surrounding counties remain deep red.
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