Winner in the special election for Fort Oglethorpe city council ward five seat Clay Kissner (left) shakes hands with his opponent Judd Burkhart minutes after the votes were tallied and announced.
When the clock struck 7 p.m. there was an air of urgency as election workers shouted out the door that the polls were now closed.
The polling stations were rearranged and set on tables and quickly set to printing out the ballot summaries.
As election superintendent Orma Luckey began writing the results on a dry erase board 45 minutes later, the small crowd that had gathered fell silent. And when at last she revealed the results there was a moment of shock as newcomer Clay Kissner began to smile.
Kissner received 403 votes, 72.6 percent, while Judd Burkhart reined in just 152, 27.4 percent. Approximately 555 votes were tallied among absentee, early voting and Election Day. There are 4,675 registered voters in the city. Turnout for the city election was relatively small at 11.8 percent.
Kissner did a considerable amount of handshaking after learning he had won the election, but the first hand he shook was his opponent Burkhart. When asked how he felt about the win, Kissner quickly replied that he was, “excited and humbled.”
“I am ready to get to work,” Kissner said.
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