Habersham County voters approved the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) during Tuesday’s election, while several municipal races across the county were decided in Baldwin, Clarkesville, and Demorest. The results below reflect the latest counts reported Tuesday night.
SPLOST Passes
With 3 out of 4 precincts reporting, the SPLOST referendum is poised to pass.
- YES: 70.16% (3,207 votes)
- NO: 29.84% (1,364 votes)
SPLOST will continue the one-cent sales tax to fund capital improvements across Habersham County and its municipalities.
Baldwin
Douglas Faust has been elected Mayor of Baldwin, receiving more than 63% of the vote.
- Douglas Faust — 63.24% (129 votes)
- Alice Venter — 36.76% (75 votes)
For City Council Post 4, Joe Elam defeated challenger James Wiese.
- Joe Elam — 61.42% (121 votes)
- James Wiese — 38.58% (76 votes)
Clarkesville
In the race for City Council Post 4, Leigh Johnston leads Rick Coulon.
- Leigh Johnston — 63.16% (120 votes)
- Rick Coulon — 36.84% (70 votes)
Note: These results reflect reported totals and may be updated once final tallies are certified.
Demorest
Voters selected two candidates in a four-way race for Demorest City Council.
The top two vote-getters were Shawn Allen and Andrew Ferguson, both incumbents, securing their seats.
- Shawn Allen (I) — 34.57% (158 votes)
- Andrew Ferguson (I) — 25.60% (117 votes)
- Jim Welborn — 24.07% (110 votes)
- Patti Davis — 15.75% (72 votes)
Demorest voters also approved the Redevelopment Powers Law Referendum, which allows the city to use certain financing tools for redevelopment projects.
- YES — 53.97% (129 votes)
- NO — 46.03% (110 votes)
All results are unofficial until certified. Turnout and final vote counts will be updated as remaining precincts report and provisional ballots are processed.
