Oconee County Board Of Commissioner Candidates Went Into Final Days Of Runoff With Money In Reserve

Chuck Horton raised slightly more money than Marcus Wiedower in the last days of October and November as the two competed in the special election for open Post 2 on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.

Wiedower raised $3,793 and spent $17,818 with War Room Strategies, an Athens-based consulting firm, leaving him with a balance of $9,521 for the campaign going into the final vote on Tuesday, according to his campaign finance reports.

Horton raised $8,735, including $4,335 he lent this campaign since he filed his last return on Oct. 21, and spent $4,335 for signs, mailings and advertising. He had $5,016 in reserve as of Oct. 30.

Only 1,620 of Oconee County’s 24,058 registered voters turned out in the five days of early voting that ended on Friday, meaning that far fewer than the 20,476 who voted on Nov. 8 are likely to vote by the end of election day on Tuesday,

The low turnout means that either candidate has a good chance of winning on Tuesday, when polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The outcome likely will be determined by the percentage of Horton’s 8,028 and Wiedower’s 5,360 Nov. 8 voters who return to the polls as well as what happens to the 4,261 voters that Ben Bridges, the third candidate who was eliminated from the runoff, received on that date.

All registered voters, included those who did not vote on Nov. 8, are eligible to vote in the runoff.

For details of this story, go to Oconee County Observations.