The returns from last week’s General Election are official, showing more than 70 percent of registered voters in Baldwin County participated.
“We have certified the election results,” Baldwin County Probate Judge and Election Superintendent Todd Blackwell reported this past Tuesday morning, one week after official returns show that 18,966 voters cast ballots Nov. 5 in Baldwin, a 70.92 percent turnout, just slightly above the 69.96 percent who voted in 2020.
Based on the certified returns, there is no change in the outcome of any election, with only minor changes in the number of votes for any candidate in any contested race. Donald Trump, who narrowly lost in the county to Joe Biden in 2020, prevailed over Kamala Harris, 9,574-9,179, a 2.2 percent margin.
Republican Ken Vance easily outpolled Floyd Griffin in Baldwin, 8,421 to 7,182, but the former State Senator won House District 149 seat by capturing over 80 percent of the votes in the minority precincts in East Macon, 4,239 to just 543 for Vance. Griffin ended up with 12,999 votes to Vance’s 11,078.
In House District 128, Republican newcomer Tracy Wheeler defeated incumbent State Representative Mack Jackson in Baldwin County, 1,6181,195, a 15 percent margin. However, Jackson narrowly won re-election by 48 votes across the district, representing a .2 percent advantage.
A look at voter turnout in Baldwin County shows a significant amount of disparity. In the Meriwether precinct, for example, 2,480 of the 3,038 eligible voters, 81.83 percent, cast ballots. Close behind was North Baldwin at 80.59 percent. Conversely, in East Hardwick, just 51.86 percent of the precinct’s 1,211 voters cast ballots, with East Milledgeville close behind at 52.01.
Interestingly, Meriwether, with its highest percentage voting overall, was last in Election Day turnout at just 15.27 percent, while 23.13 percent of the voters in the Cooper precinct made it to the polls that day.
Countywide, 49.59 percent of the people took advantage of early voting, and only 17.14 percent went to the polls on election day.
In the presidential race, though Trump narrowly carried the county, Harris outpolled the former president in eight of 14 local precincts. Her biggest margin came in West Hardwick, where she picked up 1,398 votes to Trump’s 450. Trump’s biggest advantage, meanwhile, was in the North Baldwin precinct, where he won 2,020-862.
Vance easily carried the county in the District 149 race, but Griffin picked up the most votes in seven of the 13 precincts. Vance fared best in North Baldwin with 2,149 votes to Griffin’s 704. Griffin, meanwhile, collected 1,321 votes in West Hardwick, where Vance managed just 491 ballots in his favor.
Quentin T. Howell, chairman of the Baldwin County Democratic Committee, issued a statement this past Saturday highlighting that party’s successes in Middle Georgia.
“We won a new seat in the Georgia State House of Representatives with Floyd L. Griffin securing HD 149 and becoming the first African American to hold this seat,” Howell said. “Additionally, we successfully defended another state House seat, with Rep. Mack Jackson retaining his position by a margin of less than 50 votes.”
Howell pointed to progress in two neighboring counties, too.
“Our impact has been profound (elsewhere) as well,” he stated. “In Greene County we increased our Democratic voter turnout to over 4,000 votes. In Hancock County, we swept all Democratic county seats, marking a historic moment with Adrick Ingram becoming the county-wide chairman, making history as an African American in this role.”
Local Republican Party Chairperson Janice Westmoreland said a team effort propelled Trump to victory in Baldwin County.
“Our victory efforts started in July when Trump Force 47/Georgia Republican Party developed a great ground game,” Westmoreland said. “Between July and election day we had an army of folks knocking on doors, making phone calls, chasing absentee ballots, poll workers, poll watchers, and many volunteers.
“We literally saw the red wave move across Baldwin County,” Westmoreland declared, adding that Republican candidates in all four contested races on the ballot prevailed here.