Augusta Commissioner Don Grantham defeated challenger John Butler to win re-election to his District 10 seat Tuesday.
With all 52 "super district" precincts reporting and only provisional votes uncounted, the 68-year-old incumbent received 6,552 votes, or 69 percent, to Mr. Butler's 2,988 votes, or 31 percent.
Turnout was a sparse 21 percent, with no voters appearing at two precincts.
Mr. Grantham, who campaigned on his four years of experience in city government, won a new three-year term representing a territory that encompasses commission districts 3, 6, 7 and 8.
"The people of the 10th District really came to my support," he said during a victory celebration with supporters at the Richmond Hotel complex.
Negative campaigning by his opponent, he said, might have helped his race.
"He approached this election as though there was some kind of desperation for change," Mr. Grantham said. "There was no desperation."
Despite the loss, Mr. Butler, who campaigned for change under the slogan "Extreme Makeover: Commission Edition," said he worked hard and spent most of Election Day trying to get voters to the polls.
"I was out in Hephzibah this morning, visiting people there, and then off to Warren Road," the 33-year-old carpenter and ATM service company owner said. "From the start I've said that getting people out to the polls was the key. That's the single most important thing to this race."
Mr. Grantham, the owner and president of Forest Sales Corp. wood products company, had asked voters to keep him in office based on promises to support law enforcement and help balance a difficult budget.
"We need to certainly balance our budget and make sure the spending we have is based on the amount of dollars we are given through our millage rate," he said during his campaign. He also said the county needs more recreation facilities.
Reach Rob Pavey at (706) 868-1222, ext. 119, or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.
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