Runoff results: Nahmias keeps Supreme Court seat, Lee defeats Robertson
With that, the 2010 elections are officially over
- Citizens to Elect Justice David Nahmias
In many ways, yesterday was perhaps the worst day possible for an election: Down-ballot, nonpartisan races, a raging rainstorm, few local issues to be decided (save for a couple of DeKalb school board seats). And it showed in extremely low voter turnout, which, according to some reports, was expected to chart in the single digits. Nonetheless, some democratic warriors braved the elements, and for that they got a sticker.
First, the runoff no one predicted: Supreme Court Justice David Nahmias trounced challenger Tammy Adkins, a Lawrenceville family lawyer who unexpectedly triggered a runoff against the former federal prosecutor. The endorsements, robocalls and website maintained by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s PAC seemed to work in Nahmias’ favor — he defeated Adkins by nearly 90,000 votes.
Other races:
>> Georgia Court of Appeals: Chris McFadden, a longtime appellate lawyer who literally wrote the book on appellate law, trumped Toni Davis, an Atlanta attorney. Rumor we’d like to believe to be true: McFadden’s beard has magical powers.
>> Fulton: Atlanta lawyer Kelly Lee soundly defeated former City of Atlanta assistant attorney Shelitha Robertson to succeed retiring Superior Court Judge Melvin Westmoreland. Chatter over Lee’s arrests in 1990 and 2002 for driving under the influence didn’t sway some voters from electing the corporate and insurance attorney.
>> DeKalb: County prosecutor Courtney Johnson bested Dunwoody lawyer Michael Rothenberg by almost 6,000 votes — a healthy margin for a race with such low turnout — in the race for Superior Court judge. The last few weeks were difficult for Rothenberg. First he was hit with a lawsuit accusing him of running a Ponzi scheme. (He “vehemently denies” the allegations.) Then he had to clear up confusion about candidate endorsements not once, but twice.
More statewide results can be viewed at the secretary of state’s website here. Barring any challenges, this means the 2010 elections are over. We can now return to arguing about airport pat-downs and parking tickets.