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Runoff Results

Former state Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, is poised to become Athens’ newest congressman. He beat Republican challenger Martha Zoller 54 percent to 46 percent in Tuesday’s runoff.

GOP voters in the Northeast Georgia mountain district must not want to legalize it or watch teh gayz on TV. The establishment-backed Collins ran a campaign designed to appeal to traditional social conservatives, while Zoller positioned herself as the Sarah Palin-approved tea party choice.

Just 127 people voted in the three northern Clarke County precincts that are part of the district. Sixty-six of those votes went to Collins. The rest of the county is represented by Paul Broun, who easily beat back a primary challenge July 31.

A Democrat, Jody Cooley, is running in the 9th but stands little to no chance.

An Augusta-area congressional race was much closer. Former state Rep. Lee Anderson, R-Grovetown, leads Augusta businessman Rick Allen by just 154 votes out of 27,000 cast with a handful of votes left to be counted. Two former candidates, Wright McLeod and Maria Sheffield, have already rallied around Anderson, but a recount is entirely possible.

The winner, most likely Anderson, will face vulnerable Democratic U.S. Rep. John Barrow in November in what will be one of the most heated—and costly—congressional races in the country.

Janice Mangum ran away from Ramon Gilbert in the Jackson County sheriff’s race. Incumbent Madison County Sheriff Kip Thomas prevailed over Clayton Lowe, the man he ousted in 2008, in spite of also-ran Brennan Baird and popular Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry endorsing Lowe and a local shopkeeper accusing Thomas of intimidating him.

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