Bibb County reports 64% voter turnout as incumbent candidates dominate local, state house elections

Almost 70,000 Bibb County residents voted in the Nov. 5 election, some 64% of the county’s 108,000 registered voters and, as they’ve done for more than 30 years, Maconites trended toward Democratic candidates: Kamala Harris received 60% of the county’s presidential votes, while Donald Trump came within 43 votes of his 2020 Macon total.

Across the state, Trump defeated Harris by about 120,000 votes — 2,651,196 to 2,533,821 — and the former president was projected to cruise to a second term after flipping Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Trump visited Macon Sunday evening, capping off a stretch of intense political campaigning in Macon leading up to the election. Gwen Walz and Jill Biden campaigned in Macon Thursday and Saturday, and Trump spoke at a rally at the Atrium Health Amphitheater.

Two U.S. House races that represent a portion of Macon also followed historic trends. Democratic incumbent Rep. Sanford Bishop handily defeated challenger Wayne Johnson 175,475 votes to 136,289, while Republican incumbent Rep. Austin Scott more than doubled his opponent Darrius Butler, 225,321 votes to 102,014.

Bishop won Macon by a wider margin (70%-30%) while Butler was much more competitive in Bibb County, trailing Scott by about 4,000 votes.

In the four State House races that represent a portion of Bibb County, voters re-elected Democratic incumbent Rep. Miriam Paris to District 142 and selected Democrat Anissa Jones to replace former house minority leader Rep. James Beverly in District 143.

Incumbent Republican Rep. Dale Washburn received almost three times as many votes as challenger Anita Hyland in State House District 144. Meanwhile, District 145 will almost certainly go to a recount. Democrat Tangie Herring has a slight 13,615 to 13,364 vote lead over Republican Noah Redding Harbuck.

Several Bibb County officials — including sheriff David Davis, solicitor Rebecca Grist, superior court clerk Erica Woodford and district attorney Anita Howard — ran unopposed in the general election and were re-elected.

Two constitutional amendments and a statewide referendum all passed. The first amendment will implement a statewide exemption to the local homestead tax. The second creates a tax court within the state judicial system to free up more time for superior courts to address non-tax related issues. 

The referendum increases the property tax exemption for tangible personal property worth $7,500 or less to properties worth $20,000 or less.

Voting in Bibb County

Most voters The Melody spoke with reported the voting process was quick and easy, but some voters showed up to the wrong polling place. 

When Maria Roberts went to vote at Covenant Life Cathedral on Bloomfield Road Tuesday morning, she was told she’d come to the wrong polling place and would need to go to a poll in Vineville to cast her ballot.

The address on her voter registration file did not match her current address as listed on her Georgia driver’s license. 

“It kind of was discouraging,” said Roberts, who went to vote with her 28-year-old son for an election she says will be historic.

Poll workers told her she was registered to vote at an address on Pursley Street, but “I haven’t lived there for years,” she said.

In fact, the 48-year-old doesn’t currently have a fixed address because she is living out of her car.

Roberts worries about voting in the future and barriers other people who are unhoused might face when showing up to the polls.

“Look how many people who are able bodied that may be homeless that can’t vote because of an address,” she said. 

Another challenge was sending voting results to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. The server used to transmit the data wasn’t working, so a new server was transported via helicopter from Kennesaw to Macon. 

The helicopter, which carried two state troopers and an IT tech, landed in the parking lot of the Macon Coliseum. According to reporters at the Bibb County Election Board, the original server began working before the new one was installed.

Despite the challenges, local poll workers were able to report early voting results around 9 p.m. and final totals about an hour-and-a-half later.