Wilkes Runoff Votes Increased in All 13 Precincts

By Lee Becker

W.E. “Bubber” Wilkes defeated incumbent Margaret Hale in the July 22 runoff for Post 3 on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners by adding votes in each of the county’s 13 precincts over his May 20 tally.

Wilkes almost certainly picked up the majority of the 892 votes cast for Maria Caudill in the May 20 Republican Primary, an analysis of the precinct data from both elections indicates.

The suggestion is that a majority of Caudill’s votes were at least in part votes against Hale.

In the May 20 primary, 4,295 voters cast a ballot in the Post 3 election, and 4,253 did so in the July 22 Republican Party primary runoff.

Wilkes gained 563 votes, while Hale gained only 287. Hale gained more votes than Wilkes in only one precinct.

Wilkes went from 37.6 percent of the vote in the May 20 first round to 51.2 percent in the runoff.

For more on this story, go to Oconee County Observations.

http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2014/08/wilkes-defeated-hale-in-oconee-county.html