Robert GoffRobert Goff emerged victorious in the Dade County run-off election for the remaining County Commission seat for District 3. He won against incumbent Rick Breeden, with 475 votes to Breeden's 272.
In the previous election, neither Breeden nor former commissioner Goff were able to capture 50 percent plus one of the vote, which is required in Georgia. Goff received about 43 percent of the vote the first time around, and Breeden received nearly 34 percent, according to previous reports. A third candidate, Ben Brandon, got nearly 23 percent of the votes.
This time around, Goff managed to capture 63.59 percent of the votes, while Breeden snagged 36.41 percent.
But Goff said the victory was "bittersweet" in a way, due to the circumstances which led him to run in the first place.
Goff previously represented District 3 on the County Commission. He resigned last March in order to run for a spot in the statehouse against Georgia Rep. John Deffenbaugh.
After the loss, Goff decided to run for the commission seat he'd given up.
"To carry the county again under the circumstances, it's an honor to me," he said.
Because Goff resigned from the commission midterm, he will only serve on the County Commission for another two years before there will be another general election for two commissioner seats, as well as the county mayor.
Breeden, the man who replaced Goff after Goff's resignation, said he is fine with the outcome. He said he only stepped up after community members asked him to.
Although he said he was honored to serve the county for his short term, he was not let down by the loss.
"I have officially retired from politics," he said, laughing. "It was a long enough term for me to realize you need to love politics in order to participate in it."
Contact staff writer Hannah Smith at hsmith@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6731.