Election

Night 2000 in Coweta offered a montage of scenes

from fretting candidates to curt cell phone calls

and the chomping of chicken fingers.

When

the dust settled around 9:30 Tuesday night,

several candidates found themselves in run-offs.

Incumbent

County Commissioner Charlie Jones will face

political newcomer Leigh Schlumper in the Aug. 8

election.

Schlumper

polled 799 votes to Jones' 779, with Jim Morgan

in third place with 611 votes.

"The

only thing I know to do is to get back

working," said Jones.

The

most surprising thing to Jones was the low

turnout of 19 percent.

"It

really shocks me," he said.

As

results were posted, many of the more than 50

residents in the Magistrate Courtroom in Newnan

milled around and updated candidates via the year

2000 version of the telegraph - the cell

phone.

Several

political junkies munched on chicken wings and

vegetables furnished to the crowd and nervously

waited for more results to be posted.

In

the race for Board of Education, District 2,

Allan Payton led the crowded field of six

candidates with 1,758 votes. Local attorney Ike

Hudson came in second with 1,586 votes and will

face off against Payton Aug. 8.

The

other school board race for District 6 was won by

Marihope Shirey Troutman with 447 votes to

William Word's 210 votes.

The

other runoff in August is between incumbent state

Sen. Rick Price and Coweta resident Mitch

Seabaugh. Price garnered 2,663 votes Seabaugh's

2,239 votes.

Perhaps

the evening's biggest shocker was incumbent Clerk

of Superior Court Joan Griffies losing to Mary

Jane Thompson, who used to work in the clerk's

office.

Thompson

polled 3,195 votes to Griffies' 3,036 votes in

the night's closest contest. Both candidates were

no-shows as the returns poured in and whispers

throughout the courtroom indicated many people

were intrigued by the results.

The

clerk election was overshadowed by a Georgia

Bureau of Investigation probe into missing funds

from the clerk's office. Thompson resigned from

her post there earlier this year.

In

the night's other contested race, incumbent Rep.

John Yates easily defeated Newnan's Bill McBroom.

Yates received 843 votes in the District 106

race, while McBroom received 327 votes. Yates

will face Griffin businessman Lee Howell in the

November election.

"Needless

to say, we are all disappointed about the results

of the primary. I want to thank those voters of

the 106th District that expressed their

confidence in my candidacy," said McBroom.

"We

ran a hard campaign, and I deeply appreciate the

support I have received from the many people that

worked on and contributed financially to my

campaign," he added.

McBroom

also appreciated the conduct of the campaign.

"Many

campaigns these days have become very negative. I

appreciate the way Mr. Yates conducted his

campaign. I wish Mr. Yates the best of luck

against Mr. Howell in November."

The

fall election is set for Nov. 7.