Across the region, angry voters booted out some incumbents and sent others into an Aug. 10 runoff.
In the seven Northwest Georgia counties closest to Chattanooga, there were 10 incumbents on the ballot for county-level posts. Four now face runoffs, three lost their seats outright and only three were re-elected Tuesday.
District 3 Whitfield County Commissioner Randy Waskul couldn’t point to one reason why he lost to political newcomer Robby Staten.
“I thought I had a strong record,” said Mr. Waskul. “I thought we had a strong record of job development here, but I think I was caught up in an anti-incumbency movement.”
On election night, Mr. Staten, who won by a 2-to-1 margin over Mr. Waskul, couldn’t think of any misstep by Mr. Waskul, either.
“I think there was a strong anti-incumbent movement across the country,” Mr. Staten said. “Aside from that, people know that I’m a young professional, and people know my family name here.”
Whitfield County Commission Chairman Mike Babb said Mr. Staten’s name helped, but he noticed an anti-incumbent trend in that race and elsewhere.
“Look at our two House representatives on the ballot – Roger Williams and Tom Dickson – who have long records of service and yet they barely won,” Mr. Babb said.
The pattern was noticed across the state, said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.
“I was in Middle Georgia, and I noticed that,” he said. “There are a lot of incumbents on the school board and county commission level who were not re-elected.”
The mood could be a nationwide, and it could be backlash to tough budget cuts, Dr. Bullock said. Many school boards, counties and cities have cut workers and services to balance budgets.
“At least until the economy improves, the days of currying favor by promising lower taxes and more service are really over,” he said.
Despite some ousters Tuesday, one tea party organizer said he was unsatisfied because voters returned incumbents to the state Capitol and to Congress.
“There were a lot of people on the ballot that were great businessmen and statesmen, and instead we are sending back the same old politicians to Washington and to the Gold Dome in Atlanta,” said Jim Groce, a Walker County Tea Party organizer.
Mr. Groce said he was referring to the re-election of state Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, who was re-elected to his sixth term Tuesday. No candidate endorsed by the Tea Party in North Georgia won his primary Tuesday.
Sen. Mullis said Wednesday that voters overwhelmingly chose him because he is a conservative voice.
“My record is that of the tea party,” Sen. Mullis said. “While in the Georgia Legislature we have cut spending by billions and reduced the size of the government significantly. It’s hypocritical to say my platform is different from theirs.”