In the wake of ill feelings, political signage off the charts, and much speculation in the community, the November 4 General/Nonpartisan Election has finally made its way to the history books.

According to Kelvin Williams, elections director for Lincoln County, Wade Johnson and Gerald Lawson will occupy two of the highest offices in the county.

It was close. Johnson unseated incumbent Walker T. Norman for the job of county commission chairman by a margin of 260 votes. Johnson received 52.97 percent (2,301 votes) of the vote, with Norman capturing 46.98 percent (2,041 votes).

For the job of sheriff, Lawson, the incumbent, emerged with 52.55 percent (2,296 votes) of the vote, edging out Bruce Beggs, who received 47.45 percent (2,073 votes). The race was decided by 223 votes.

Other results for the contested races in the county are as follows:

District 4 Commissioner: Rob Robinson defeated incumbent Allen Walker by a margin of 62.15 (785 votes) to 37.85 percent (478 votes) of the vote.

Probate Court Judge: Incumbent Lee Moss garnered 53.68 percent (2,335 votes) of the vote, and challenger Joe F. Banks, 46.30 percent (2,014 votes).

District 1 - Board of Education: Denise Freeman received 62.61 percent (551 votes) of the vote, with Brian D. Henderson capturing 37.39 percent (329 votes).

Concerning state and national elections, the local results included:

President and Vice President: John McCain/Sarah Palin soundly defeated Barack Obama/Joe Biden by a margin of 61.72 percent (2,728 votes) of the vote to 37.31 percent (1,649 votes).

Although the popular vote was close, Obama and Biden clobbered McCain and Palin in the Electoral College.

United States Senator: Saxby Chambliss received 57.23 percent (2,348 votes) of the vote to Jim Martin's 40.29 percent (1,653 votes).

Georgia voters agreed with the local electorate.

10th District Congressman: Incumbent Paul Broun defeated Bobby Saxon by a margin of 59.21 (2,449 votes) to 40.79 percent (1,687) of the vote.

According to Director Williams, 49 percent of the ballots cast in Lincoln County were done so during the "early" and advanced voting periods.

Also, voter turnout was tremendous - of the 5,913 registered electors in the county, 4,470 or 75.60 percent made their way to the polls on Tuesday.