It has been some time in the making, but the winner of the District 71 seat in the Ga. House of Representatives will finally be decided next week. Voters in the March 5 runoff will send either Thomas Crymes or David Stover to the Gold Dome to represent much of east Coweta County and portions of Peachtree City’s west side.
Both Republicans, Stover and Crymes were the top two vote-getters in the Feb. 5 special election that saw a field of six candidates facing off to fill the seat vacated by Robert Stokely.
Stover, a 41-year-old local business owner, got 42.68 percent of the Feb. 5 vote while 45-year-old Sharpsburg general contractor Thomas Crymes took second place with 19.95 percent. Those percentages translated into 1,166 votes for Stover and 545 votes for Crymes.
The remainder of the Feb. 5 vote went to the other four candidates, with Republicans Darryl Marmon, Michael Farbo and Richard Weisser receiving 16.8 percent, 2.56 percent and 1.28 percent respectively. Democrat Cynthia Bennett received 16.73 percent of the vote.
Of the total 2,732 votes cast, 2,670 votes were from Coweta County and 62 were cast in Peachtree City.
District 71 includes much of east Coweta County, excluding the Senoia area, and a portion of the northwest side of Peachtree City west of Ga. Highway 74, north of Ga. Highway 54 and extending to the Tyrone town limits.
Though he won the House seat, Stokely in December opted to forego the position in favor of serving in the full-time capacity as a Coweta County Magistrate Judge.
