Jeff Johnson, Billy Thurmond win reelection, but voters reject transportation SPLOST

DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. — Sheriff Jeff Johnson won a second term without the need for a runoff Tuesday. Board of Commissioners Chairman Billy Thurmond also won a second term but political newcomer Renee Duren threw a real scare into the former Public Safety Director.

Johnson received 3,683 votes (53.92%) to Marcus Sewell 1,757 and Jeff Perry 1,390.

The race for county commission chair went down to the wire. Thurmond a longtime public servant with strong name recognition, survived by just over 200 votes. Thurmond’s total was 3,143 to Duren’s 2,907. The focus of Duren’s campaign was zoning issues and quality of life.

Emory Dooley won the race for District 4 county commissioner, defeating David Pressley by a count of 3,143 to 2,907.

Fed up with a dwindling job market, COVID-19 and the rising racial tensions in the U.S., Dawson County voters were in no mood to raise their own taxes. They voted “no” to the transportation special purpose local option sales tax (TSPLOST) 4.445 TO 3.467.

All races are unofficial until certified by the Secretary of State.

 

Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com