Voters chose familiar names last week in selecting Georgia General Assembly members to represent middle and north DeKalb districts.
Among them were District 79 state Rep. Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody, whom north DeKalb voters overwhelmingly chose as the Republican nominee to succeed Sen. Dan Weber in the state Senate District 40 seat. Weber, who was chairman of the Senate Education Committee, did not seek re-election.
Millar easily defeated two others July 20 for the nomination for the seat representing north DeKalb and Gwinnett County’s Peachtree Corners area. Millar received 64 percent compared to 25 percent for James Sibold and 11 percent for Jim Duffie.
Millar said he felt he won so easily because voters were familiar with his work over 12 years in the state House while his opponents had not been as actively involved in community affairs.
“I think experience and performance do count,” he said. “I tried to explain to people what I had done over the years.”
Millar won handily in the DeKalb part of the district, where he received 68 percent of the vote compared to Sibold’s 23 percent and Duffie’s 10 percent. However, Millar only won 42 percent of the vote in the Gwinnett part, compared to Sibold’s 39 percent.
Duffie, who was making his first run for public office, said he planned to support publicly Millar, though he had not discussed any specific plans with the nominee.
He agreed Millar’s positive name recognition, especially in Dunwoody, helped propel him to victory.
Millar will face Democrat Eric Christ of Norcross, who was unopposed for his party’s nomination, on Nov. 2.
In other races:
-Incumbent state Rep. Billy Mitchell, with 69 percent of the vote, kept his state House District 88 seat by defeating Democratic challenger Simone Joye, who had 31 percent. Mitchell will be unopposed in the General Election Nov. 2.
-Incumbent state Rep. Earnest “Coach” Williams, with 64 percent of the vote, easily retained his state House District 89 seat by defeating Democratic challenger Kenneth Samuel, who had 36 percent. Williams will be unopposed Nov. 2.
-Former Dunwoody City Council member Tom Taylor, with 69 percent of the vote, defeated Tammy Anderson, with 31 percent, for the Republican nomination to succeed Millar in the state House District 79 seat. Taylor will face Democrat Keith Kaylor, who was unopposed for his party’s nomination, in the Nov. 2 election.
-Newcomer Sandy Murray, with 68 percent, easily defeated Keith Gross, who received 32 percent of the vote, for the Democratic nomination for state House District 80.
Ms. Murray will face Republican incumbent state Rep. Mike Jacobs Nov. 2. Jacobs was unopposed for the GOP nomination.