Almost 4,000 Athens voters wrote in Charles Darwin (or some variation thereof) against U.S Rep. Paul Broun, giving the father of evolution 16 percent of the vote, according to a list of write-in votes the Athens-Clarke Board of Elections released this morning.
Broun was unopposed, but his comments about science at a Hartwell Baptist church in September upset many voters, leading to a campaign to write in Darwin.
Neither Democrats nor more moderate Republicans have had any success against Broun, losing by 20-40 points in past elections. But Clarke County Democratic Committee Chairman Joe Wisenbaker says the party will “absolutely” field a candidate in 2014. “What we’re talking about doing is finding a well-qualified candidate who’s willing to change their name to Charles Darwin,” he joked.
Overall, 6,773 people (29 percent) cast write-in votes in the 10th Congressional District race, including about 3,829 votes for Darwin. Another 12,133 people skipped over the race entirely. Only 48 percent of district residents who voted in Athens pressed the button for Broun.
Brian Russell Brown. the only officially registered write-in candidate, won 238 votes. Pete McCommons/McCommunist finished fourth with 191 votes in spite of throwing his support behind Darwin.
The write-in votes were a hodgepodge of hundreds of often-misspelled real local residents, celebrities, fictional characters, inanimate objects and abstract concepts. A few examples: Bacon, Batman, Bertis Downs, Beyonce, Big Bird, Bill Nye, Brian Brodrick, Burning Bag of Dog Shit, Captain Jack Sparrow, “Carl” Marx, Darth Vader, Democrote, Doc Eldridge, Doritos, Doug McKillip, George Bush, Guy Fawkes, Gwen O’Looney, Jarvis Jones, Jay-Z, Hugh Acheson, Led Zeppelin, Michael Stipe, Randy Macho Man Savage, Ron Paul, Russell Edwards, Satan, Science, Spongebob, Stephen Colbert, Taylor Swift, Vermin Supreme, Yoda, Zelda and Zell Miller.
And, of course, that perennial write-in favorite, Mickey Mouse. Click here to see all 371 pages of write-in votes.
This article has been updated to correct a math error.
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