Posted on 09/27/2005 8:29:52 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Melvin Everson on Tuesday became the first black Republican since Reconstruction to win a contested election for the Georgia Legislature.
In a squeaker of an election decided by a mere 27 votes, Everson defeated Warren Auld in a runoff for the state House District 106 seat in south Gwinnett County. Auld, a former Snellville city councilman, is white.
"This is a great day for Snellville and it's a great day for me," Everson said. "It's just a prelude to what the Republican Party has to offer to African-Americans. A door has been opened and we need to seize this opportunity."
Tuesday night marked the first time Everson has commented publicly on the historic nature of his campaign. Previously at forums and other public events, Everson instead focused on generic GOP themes of keeping taxes low, preserving socially conservative values and cracking down on illegal immigrants by denying them any state-funded services.
Gov. Sonny Perdue called the election after the resignation of former state Rep. Phyllis Miller (R-Lawrenceville), who left her post during the summer to accept a Juvenile Court judgeship.
The contest was nonpartisan but all three candidates, including Garry Rhodes, who was edged out in a special primary election on Aug. 30, are Republicans.
Under Georgia law, off-year elections resulting from the sudden vacancy of an elected post are nonpartisan contests. Regular elections every two years include party primaries in which candidates are identified by which political party they belong to.
Everson, a probation officer, associate pastor and also former Snellville city councilman, rode to victory with the overwhelming support of the Gwinnett GOP and prominent Georgia statehouse Republicans. They included House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) and Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister.
Party leaders supported Everson, in large part, because they wanted to demonstrate that the state party is growing more diverse.
In backing Everson, they chose a longtime party activist who says he's been a Republican since childhood.
Everson joins state Rep. Willie Talton (R-Warner Robins ), the only other black Republican in the Legislature. Talton, elected in November 2004, claimed his seat at qualifying time seven months earlier when nobody signed up to run against him.
Tuesday's victory marks Everson's second win in five tries for elected office. He ran unsuccessful campaigns for the Snellville City Council in 1997 and 1999 before getting elected to the panel in 2000. He gave up that post in 2004 to run for an open Georgia House seat, but was defeated by 54 votes.
This is great news.
He was backed by all the brass yet won by just 27 votes? What's the inside story here?
3 candidates of the same party. bound to be close
There are multiple candidates in a primary all the time. It's rare for a race to be this close. Considering all the support this guy had from the party leadership, I'm pretty sure there's a story here which this reporter unfortunately wasn't interested enough to get off his ass and write.
EVERYBODY is somebody in Snellville.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.