Lindsey Re-Elected in House District 54

Republican Incumbent Edward Lindsey was easily elected for a fifth term with Tuesday’s victory in the race for the District 54 State House seat.

And the Georgia House Majority Whip was hoping to bring along the passage of the charter school amendment with him. A strong proponent for Amendment 1, the Buckhead resident defeated Democratic challenger Lynn Brown McKinney Tuesday by garnering 63 percent of the vote with all 18 precincts reporting. Almost 22,000 votes were cast.

Lindsey should be pleased because it appears Georgia voters gave the state more authority over charter schools on Tuesday, likely passing a constitutional amendment empowering a commission to overrule local school districts that reject charter school petitions.

About an hour after the 7 p.m. polls had closed in Georgia, Lindsey was "hopeful," but wasn't ready yet to make an Amendment 1 election prediction during a GOP party at Fado in Buckhead.

“I spent a lot of time and effort working on that campaign; since the General Assembly finished its work at the end of last March,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have a strong charter school amendment that will be the first step toward some really meaningful education reform in this state.”

Later Tuesday evening to move into the “war room” and focus on other state House races across the state. Republicans entered Election Day looking to gain five House seats in order to attain the two-thirds “supermajority” threshold in the Legislature. Early results Tuesday seemed to indicate the GOP falling short of its supermajority goal, but nothing was official at this article's posting.

“I’m focused on electing good quality Republicans,” he said. “We’ve got good quality Republicans running throughout the state and I think we’ll do well tonight. … I’m proud to be on the ballot with all of them.”

And he’s looking forward to serving the 54th district, which includes portions of Buckhead, Brookhaven and Sandy Springs, for the next two years.

“You cannot separate transportation and education from economic development,’’ he said. “They are all intertwined. We need to be focused on all three. In order to get those passed we’ve got to have folks who have faith in their government. And in order to do that we’ve got to pass meaningful ethics reform. They’re all intertwined.”

McKinney, a retired former IBM associate executive from Buckhead, campaigned on issues centered on education, the criminal justice system and health care. In an email, she congratulated her opponent and thanked her supporters:

"The move forward continues with President Obama in the lead. While I did not win here in GA, I personally "won" in many respects. With 37% of the vote, our voices were heard, we improved the process and we are just beginning to fight. I called and congratulated Representative Lindsey and let him know that I look forward to working with him as a citizen and as one of his active constituents. I am so thankful for all of your support, work and prayers."