While Senator John McCain was expected to get Georgia's 15 electoral votes, Burke County voters backed Senator Barack Obama. He carried the county 5,231 to 4,342.

At 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, McCain was leading the state with 54 percent of Georgia's popular vote.

Those results didn't help the Arizona senator enough, however. By 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, McCain had already conceded.

Other local results are as follows:

Absentee voting

Some 5,051 Burke County residents took advantage of Georgia's new absentee voting law. Those early-birds plugged in an astounding 52.1 percent of the total 9,697 votes cast in the election. During the last General Election in 2004, only 2,015 absentee ballots were issued.

Sheriff

Greg Coursey will get an eighth straight term as Burke County Sheriff after beating Republican challenger Curt St. Germaine, 6,425 to 2,945. Coursey cinched up 13 of the 15 polling precincts and the bulk of the absentee voters. St. Germaine won Four Points and Telfair precincts.

Coroner

Democratic newcomer R. Lee Webster Jr. upset Republican incumbent Betty W. White with a 541-vote margin to become Burke County's new coroner. With a 4,821-4,280 advantage, Webster won 11 precincts and had a slight edge on the absentee votes. They tied 164-164 in Keysville, and White won Four Points, Sardis and Telfair precincts.

Burke County Commission

District 4 voters tapped Re- publican newcomer Allen DeLaigle to replace longtime county commissioner Jimmy Dixon, who will be retiring in January. DeLaigle edged out Democrat Clinton Benson Bates with a narrow 972-822 win. DeLaigle's win can be partially pinned on the Telfair precinct which gave him a 145-47 advantage.

Another close race was on in District 5 where Henry Tinley held onto his South Waynesboro post with a 1,141-824 win over Democrat Richard Daniels. While Daniels had a slight 297- 252 edge in the precinct's Election Day votes, Tinley carried the win with 889 absentee votes to Daniels' 527.

Board of Education

It's not over for District 3 voters. They'll head back to the polls for a Dec. 2 run-off to choose between incumbent Barrett Wimberly and newcomer Lynn Crews. Wimberly pulled ahead with 910, or 48.9 percent of votes, but couldn't garner the majority needed for a win. Crews was right behind him with 729 votes, and Charles "T-Bo" Thames had 216.

District 4 voters gave Greg Chandler a third term as their school board representative. He beat challenger Ray Lane in their third consecutive race together, 1,139 to 532.

State Senate,

23rd District

Incumbent JB Powell was heavily favored in Burke County's state senate race. He routed Republican Napoleon Jenkins 6,134 to 2,738 in Burke and came out ahead in every precinct.

U.S. Representative,

12th District

Incumbent John Barrow swept Burke County with 5,995 votes to Republican challenger John Stone's 3,167. Barrow took every precinct except Four Points, which went to Stone, and Telfair, where they tied.

State Representative,

142nd District

Midville voters chose Mack Jackson over Republican James L. Veal for their state representative. The Democrat totaled 156 votes to Veal's 110.

U.S. Senate

Burke County voters favored Democrat Jim Martin over Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. Martin tallied 4,839 votes to Chambliss' 3,863. Libertarian Allen Buckley had 170 votes.

Court of Appeals of Georgia

Burke County voters tapped Sara Doyle to succeed John H. Ruffin. She had 1,377 votes, or approximately 21.3 percent of the county's popular vote. Six others are in the race, which is expected to go to a run-off Dec. 2.

Public Service

Commissioner

Doug Everett and Jim Powell were favored in Burke for the two open public service commissioner seats. Incumbent Everett got 66.8 percent of Burke's popular vote while Powell, who is up to succeed Angela Speir, got 58.3 percent.

Constitutional Amendments

Burke County voters supported all three proposed amendments. Votes are as follows:

• Amendment 1: Forest Preservation

Yes: 5,817 No: 2,730

• Amendment 2: Community Redevelopment

Yes: 4,819 No: 3,788

• Amendment 3: Infrastructure Development

Yes: 4,179 No: 3,983

TO VIEW RESULTS OF LOCAL

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