Nahmias wins re-election to state Supreme Court

Georgia Supreme Court Justice David Nahmias avoided making history Tuesday by decisively defeating Tamela "Tammy" Adkins, the Lawrenceville lawyer who got in the statewide runoff after not campaigning at all in the general election.

As far as court historians can determine, no sitting Georgia Supreme Court justice had ever been defeated in an election bid, and Adkins gave Nahmias a scare by forcing him into the nonpartisan runoff. But with almost all precincts reporting, Nahmias led by a 2-to-1 ratio over Adkins.

"I'm honored to have the voters allow me to continue serving our state on its highest court, and I want to thank all the people who came out to vote and supported us throughout the campaign," Nahmias said Tuesday.

Adkins called her opponent shortly after 9 p.m. to concede and congratulate him on running a good campaign.

"Wouldn't it have been something?" she asked. "But it's OK. Things happen for a reason, they always do. It's been a really good month for me."

In the other statewide runoff race, Decatur lawyer Chris McFadden won a commanding victory in his second quest for a seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals. He defeated Atlanta lawyer Antoinette "Toni" Davis, who won the most votes in the general election.

"I'm humbled and I'm honored," said McFadden, who had campaigned long and hard to get on the busy appeals court.

In 2008, McFadden unsuccessfully ran for another open seat on the court. When Judge Edward Johnson announced in June 2009 that he would not seek re-election, McFadden immediately entered the race and began campaigning again.

The question Tuesday was not only who would win the statewide runoffs, but how many voters would turn out. Voter turnout is typically miniscule -- often less than 6 percent -- in runoffs with no high-profile office on the line. On Tuesday, torrential rain soaked metro Atlanta throughout the day and provided voters another excuse to stay away from the polls. Tuesday's vote was about one-tenth of the turnout for the general election four weeks ago.

Adkins, 47, a family law attorney, was trying to pull off an unprecedented upset in a most unusual fashion.

During the three-candidate general election, Adkins did not reach out to voters, appeared in no debates and accepted no financial contributions. Yet she finished second and received twice as many votes as Atlanta lawyer Matt Wilson, who mounted an aggressive race against Nahmias and poured more than $160,000 in personal loans into his campaign.

After getting in the runoff, Adkins shut down her law office and began campaigning in earnest and picked up the endorsements of a number of prominent Georgia attorneys. According to financial disclosure reports, she raised $51,910 in the four weeks after the general election and used most of it on a direct-mail campaign.

By prevailing, Nahmias keeps intact the conservative bloc that is often in the majority on the seven-member state Supreme Court, which will continue to shape opinions involving tort reform, the death penalty, criminal prosecutions and hot-button constitutional issues. Since Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed Nahmias, a former U.S. attorney, to the bench last year, the court's ideological leanings have tilted decidedly to the right.

Nahmias, 46, used his academic and government credentials to pick up widespread bipartisan support. He won endorsements from the state's top Republican politicians as well as a number of high-profile Democrats, including former Atlanta mayors Shirley Franklin and Andrew Young. Dozens of state lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, also endorsed his campaign, as did 11 past presidents of the State Bar of Georgia.

Nahmias' campaign raised $262,154, including $68,948 in the four weeks after the general election, according to financial disclosure reports.

After casting his vote Tuesday at an east Cobb precinct, Art Johnson, 73, said he had been voting since he was old enough to vote. "If they held an election for Cobb County dog catcher tomorrow, I'd be there," he said.

Johnson indicated that he voted for Nahmias by citing the justice's academic background. "I voted for the most qualified candidate," he said. "He's a Harvard grad and went to Duke, and the credentials of his opponent weren't that impressive."