Range of factors made runoffs tough on incumbents

Silva supported challenger Tommy Hunter, who ousted Gwinnett County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau. Silva cited the incumbent's vote for an unpopular trash plan and said he doesn't want "government getting involved in more things."

"I don't want to use the words `fed up,' " Silva said Wednesday, describing the mood of voters. "But it's probably close."

Voters turned out Republicans and Democrats, county commissioners and sheriffs on Tuesday. Among the casualties:

Cobb County Commission Chairman Tim Lee survived a close race against fellow Republican Bill Byrne, while state Sen. Gail Davenport, D-Jonesboro, defeated fellow Democrat Gail Buckner.

Voters cited various reasons for their discontent.

Donis Hendry, who lives next to Briarlake Elementary School near DeKalb's Northlake Mall, said she voted against Womack because he supported building cellphone towers on school property. She fears the view from the back of her house will be dominated by a 150-foot-tall tower if the building permit is approved.

She noted the similarity between the 2-to-1 ratio of votes against Womack and the vote in July opposing a local ballot initiative regarding cell towers on school property. "It was overwhelming," she said. "People said 'no.' "

East Cobb homemaker Betty Buran voted for Byrne over Lee.

"I didn't like [Lee's] attempt to railroad a commissioner for a vote for the millage increase last year," Buran said.

Jeff Tullis of Grayson voted for Hunter over Beaudreau in Gwinnett. He said Hunter has the best interests of the county at heart. And though Tullis has no opinion of Beaudreau, he said tough economic times "are affecting people on both sides of the aisle."

"I feel that people are just fed up with the status quo," he said. "I'm definitely not better off than I was four years ago."

Todd Rehm, a Republican political consultant and pollster, said that's a common theme in recent anti-incumbent fervor. "It's the economy, stupid," he said.

Rehm said incumbents even at the local level have a hard time getting re-elected in a tough economy. He said hot local issues — such as corruption allegations involving former commissioners in Gwinnett and the recent failed transportation sales tax measure elsewhere — also worked against incumbents.

"The T-SPLOST by itself, in a normal year, might not have caused the ripple that it has," Rehm said. "But when you add it to the economy, the general sense that some of these local governments are raising taxes too much already ... that certainly turned a couple of races."

Julianne Thompson, a co-chairwoman of the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots, sees another message in Tuesday's results: Voters just don't trust government.

"I think it would be very difficult for [public officials] not to get the message," Thompson said. "But I'm not so sure that some of them have gotten the message."

Cobb Commissioner Thompson, who lost to fellow Democrat Lisa Cupid, thinks local circumstances played a bigger role in his defeat than any general anti-incumbent sentiment. He thinks changing demographics in his district and Cupid's strong campaigning were significant factors.

But he said voter distrust of government may have contributed to his defeat.

"There's some people that don't trust anybody in government for any reason," Thompson said. "I think that's unfortunate."

Staff writers Janel Davis and Ty Tagami contributed to this article.