TIFTON — If unofficial results hold true, Melanie Cross will be the new Superior Court Judge of the Tifton Judicial Circuit. Unofficial election results show Cross winning 55.9 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s runoff to Joseph Carter’s 44.1 percent.
Cross beat Joseph Carter in the 14 Tift County precincts with 4,273 votes to his 3,819.
In Irwin County, Cross won the most votes with 1,139 to Carter’s 974 votes.
In Worth County, Cross won the most votes with 2,642 to Carter’s 1,941 votes.
Cross also won the most votes in Turner County with 1,231 to Carter’s 588 votes.
These results are unofficial and incomplete until certified by county elections superintendents and the Secretary of State’s office.
In the Nov. 4 General Election, the race was the tightest local race with Carter receiving 40 more votes than Cross, sending the two candidates into Tuesday’s runoff.
Cross, Carter and local attorney Ronnie Wheeler vied for the judgeship in the General Election to fill the seat being vacated by Gary McCorvey. In the General Election, Carter received 40.2 percent of the total vote to Cross’s 40 percent. Wheeler, who went on to endorse Carter, did not qualify for the runoff after receiving 19.8 percent of the total votes cast.
Cross said early Tuesday that she had been very pleased with the results of the General Election in November.
“We [made the run-off ballot] by hard work so we didn’t change our tactics,” Cross said. “We just got out and met people. That’s what they wanted and I think they appreciated it.”
She also said that she was very excited about winning the runoff and was ready to get started in her new position.
“I’m ecstatic. We worked hard,” Cross said. “Joseph and Ronnie ran a great race and this has been a wonderful experience. I am going to bed tonight and tomorrow I will start on my new journey.”
Carter said that the hard thing about getting votes during a runoff election is getting voters interested in voting again.
“Quite frankly, a lot of people are tired of the politics,” he said. “The runoff election is a different dynamic than a General Election. It’s not about convincing people to vote for you, it’s about getting them back out to the polls.”
He said of the results, “I want to congratulate Melanie on a terrific victory. She ran a great race as shown by the results and she will do a great job as our Superior Court judge. I would also like to thank everyone who worked with me in this campaign.”
To contact reporter Chivaun Perez, call 382-4321.
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