GOP still rules Gwinnett, but Democrats make gains

Gwinnett County offices were a sweep for Republicans Tuesday, but GOP officials are taking note of a surge in Democratic sentiment that made some races tighter than expected.

Democratic party chairman Mike Berlon said the local climate for Democrats is improving. While the county commission and school board seats remained with Republican incumbents, he said, there were some notable challenges that signify an erosion of GOP ideals in those races.

“Vincent Passariello ran a great race (for county commission chairman), and his fundraising was dwarfed by Chairman (Charles) Bannister,” Berlon said. “But that’s the way it always is. Money always follows the incumbents.”

He also cited two of the three school board races, in which Democratic challengers, each with little funding, mounted respectable opposition to Republican incumbents. In District 1, Megan Kline lost to incumbent Carole Boyce 55 percent to 45 percent, a margin of fewer than 7,000 votes. In District 3, the race was even tighter, with Democratic challenger Ravindra Kumar coming within 1,200 votes of unseating long-time incumbent Republican Louise Radloff.

On the other hand, Berlon said, Gwinnett Democrats can be proud of picking up two State House seats. In District 95, an open seat vacated by Republican Robert Mumford, Democrat Toney Collins defeated Erick Hunt by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. In District 104, Lee Thompson defeated Republican incumbent John Heard by a little more than 1,000 votes.

If the Democratic party can improve its methods of fundraising, Berlon said, Gwinnett can look forward to a more balanced local government.

“We’re going to start recruiting candidates before the end of the year,” he said, “and try to get out in front of the next election.”

Gwinnett County Republican Party Chairman Gregory Howard said, while he was pleased with the local results, the challenges are a wake-up call for the future.

“The Democratic Party did their job,” Howard said. “They put up some very viable candidates, and they made a couple of races exciting.”

It will be several days, Howard said, before the GOP dissects the results to find out which issues keyed the Democratic surge locally.

There was a lot of cross-ticket voting, in which many voters chose one candidate for president, then switched party preference farther down the ballot, he said. The job now, he added, is to find out what trends pulled these voters across.

“There’s a lot to be learned from this election,” he said.

He is counting on an increase in fundraising.

“We had a good year, one of our better years,” he said. “I promise you next year will be a lot better because of the perceived threat.”