The 2016 election cycle ended with large voter turnout in Fayette and Coweta counties and with local and national Republican candidates taking a large majority of the vote.
In presidential politics, Republican Donald Trump easily took Coweta with 68.38 percent of the vote, compared with 26.65 percent for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump’s victory in Fayette came with 58.02 percent of the vote compared to 38.51 percent for Clinton.
The voter turnout in both counties was heavy. Fayette had a voter turnout of 83.9 percent while 79.18 percent of Coweta voters cast a ballot.
On the local level, there were only a handful of elections for voters to decide.
The race for State House District 71 had incumbent Republican David Stover taking 75.58 percent of the vote in Coweta and 61.42 percent in west Peachtree City, with Democratic challenger Cynthia Bennett garnering 38.58 percent of the vote in Fayette and 24.34 percent in Coweta.
In other local elections, former Fayette County Commissioner Eric Maxwell was elected to the District 1 commission seat, having received 8,871 votes (66.07 percent) compared to 4,555 (33.93 percent) for Democrat Pam Reid.
The Fayette County Board of Education’s (FCBOE) District 1 race between Barry Marchman (R) and Melissa Lohr (D) resulted in Marchman winning 8,834 (62.82 percent) compared to Lohr with 5,224 (37.16 percent).
In the FCBOE countywide District 5 race, Republican Brian Anderson took home 37,240 (63.59 percent) votes compared to 21,324 (36.41 percent) garnered by Democrat Ching Ching Yap.
The election for Fayette County Tax Commissioner resulted in a win for Republican Kristie King who received 39,496 (67.40 percent) votes. Democratic opponent Rasheed “B.J” Dawodu received 19,100 (32.60 percent) votes.
The District 3 Congressional race between Republican Drew Ferguson (West Point) and Angela Pendley (Grantville) had Ferguson receiving 73.78 percent of the vote and Pendley with 25.84 percent.
Ferguson in Fayette received 68.09 percent of the vote, with Pendley taking 31.51 percent.
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, who won statewide, received 71.21 percent of the Coweta vote and 62.16 percent of the Fayette vote.
