Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY
November 3, 2004
Vol. 112, No. 54 | Athens, Georgia
T-showers.
High 76 | Low 62 | Thursday 68
ONLINE: www.redandblack.com
An independent student newspaper’ serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
MARRIAGE BAN
V How Amendment
One fared among voters
at the polls. PAGE 3
ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY
ELECTION RESULTS
U.S. President
George W. Bush
10,385
John F. Kerry
15,468
Michael Badnarik
369
U.S. Senator
Johnny Isakson
10,532
Denise L. Majette
14,199
Allen Buckley
1,027
U.S. Representative
Max Burns
10,488
John Barrow
15,064
Ga. Senate
Brian Kemp
10,327
Becky Vaughn
14,998
Ga. House
Jane Kidd
5,952
Bill Cowsert
4,696
Ga. Court of Appeals
Debra Bernes
8,585
Howard Mead
7,678
Mike Sheffield
3,618
Public Service
Commissioner
Robert Baker
9,637
Mac Barber
12,572
Jalynn Hudnall
2,149
District Attorney
Mo Wiltshire
9,224
Ken Mauldin
15,369
Sheriff
Alan Hughes
8,408
Ira Edwards
16,251
ACC Commissioner D-4
Blake Tillery
1,185
Alice Kinman
1,306
ACC Commissioner D-6
Bob Beal
1,775
Carl P. Jordan
2,236
ACC Commissioner D-8
Annette Nelson
1,068
States McCarter
2,120
Board of Education D-6
Alta B. Allen
1,160
Mark Rich
881
Charles Worthy
1,077
Amendment One
Shall the Constitution be
amended so as to provide that
this state shall recognize as
marriage only the union of man and
woman?
Bush leading in Electoral College
President Bush and chal
lenger John Kerry sweated
out a tension-packed conclu
sion to the race between an
embattled incumbent and a
Democrat who questioned
the war he waged in Iraq.
Ohio loomed as this year’s
Florida, the decisive state,
with Kerry’s options dwin
dling.
Bush won Florida, and
Kerry hung on to the
Democratic prize of
Pennsylvania, but had pre
cious few places to pick up
electoral votes that went
Republican in 2000 — Ohio,
Nevada and New Hampshire.
NBC and FOX called Ohio
for Bush early Wednesday
morning.
“I’ve given it my all,” Bush
said after voting in a fire
house at Crawford, Texas.
Kerry, a four-term
Massachusetts senator,
allowed himself to muse
about the problems he might
face in the White House,
including a soaring deficit
and a war that has claimed
more than 1,100 lives.
“I’m not pretending to
anybody that it’s a bed of
roses,” the Democrat said.
The Electoral College
count was excruciating: With
270 votes needed, Bush won
27 states for 249 votes. Kerry
won 15 states plus the
District of Columbia for 216
votes.
At midnight with several
battleground states still
unsettled, neither man had
managed to turn around a
state from 2000, a require
ment for Kerry, because
states won by Democrat A1
Gore four years ago are
worth just 260 votes this year
due to redistricting.
Without the Buckeye
state, Kerry could only turn
to Nevada — 5 votes — and
New Hampshire — 4 votes.
A 269-269 tie would throw
the presidential race to the
House.
“It’s still possible for
Kerry to win, but almost
impossible,” said Paul-Henri
Gurian, an associate profes
sor at the School for Public
and International Affairs.
“He’d have to win Ohio and
most of the remaining
states.”
He and a crowd composed
predominantly of students
watched the election results
at an event sponsored by the
School of Public and
International Affairs in the
Tate Student Center’s
Reception Hall.
>- See PRESIDENT, Page 3
AIM IE MORROW | The Red & Black
▲ Sophomore Christopher Johnson, left, claps Tuesday night at the Tate Student
Center as he learns George W. Bush has captured the electoral vote in North
Dakota. Sophomore Timothy Evans, right, a School of Public and International
Affairs senator, supports John Kerry but believes Bush will win.
District 4 race too close for decision
By BRIAN McDEARMON
mcdearmon@randb.com
and DEEPIKA RAO
drao@randb.com
Although the two precincts report
ing results for the District 4 Athens-
Clarke County Commission race
favored Democrat Alice Kinman
Tuesday night, her opponent, Blake
Tillery, was still hopeful.
“It’s not over yet, and we’re still in
it,” said a tired but attentive Tillery at
10:15 Tuesday night, referring to
about 11,000 absentee and early votes
still uncounted as of press time.
At 12:30 a.m., the ACC Board of
Elections reported a 121-vote margin
of Kinman over Tillery 1,306 to 1,185
at the two precincts in the predomi
nately Democratic district.
Tillery, a University junior from
Vidalia and a Republican, collected 11
more votes than Kinman at the
Memorial Park precinct near Five
Points, which is twice as large as the
other precinct in the district.
Kinman said the early and absen
tee voters would “likely vote my way”
but acknowledged it was still too
close to call.
Tillery spent the majority of
Tuesday’s election night at Loco’s
Deli & Pub on the east side with
friends, family and local Republican
committee members, including fellow
ACC Commission candidate Bob
Beal.
Tillery was transfixed to the televi
sion screen in front of him reporting
election returns as live musicians
enhanced the party’s mood.
Kinman also watched the results
come in on television, surrounded by
dozens of friends, family members
and campaign workers at Tasty World
downtown.
Many friends and volunteers said
they had known the Democratic can
didate for more than a decade, and all
were confident she would emerge vic
torious.
As the night wore on and numbers
for precinct after precinct flashed on
the TV, crowds for both parties grew
more attentive to the screen, and
after a long wait, the last precinct —
one of two in the fourth district —
reported its figures.
> See COMMISSION. Page 2
Barrow defeats Bums
By PURVI PATEL
ppatel@randb.com
Twenty-two months and 75,000
miles of campaigning have
Democratic congressional candidate
John Barrow on his way to
Washington D.C.
Barrow, who ran for the 12th
District, defeated on Tuesday night
Republican incumbent Max Burns.
“The voters have spoken,” Barrow
said, adding that although total votes
had not been reported as of 1:15 a.m.
Wednesday, CNN, The Associated
Press and The August Chronicle
“have called the election in my favor.”
“The first thing I’ll do is start work
ing on some of the problems that
need some work up there,” he said.
Early Wednesday morning, Bums’
spokesman John Stone told the
Associated Press Bums was not con
ceding the election.
“This has been a disaster of an
election in terms of which counties
have counted their early voting and
which have not,” he said.
Burns, who watched election
returns in Savannah, was an unex
pected winner two years ago in a dis
trict with a Democratic tilt, according
to The Associated Press.
Ashley Jones, finance director for
Barrow, said Barrow and Burns had
KATIE FOLEY | The Red & Black
▲ Jim Ponsoldt of Athens, left,
shakes hands with newly elect
ed congressman John Barrow.
not spoken to each other during the
day Tuesday.
Jones said Barrow, who gave up his
seat on the Athens-Clarke County
Commission to run, went to key
precincts in the district starting at
7 a.m. in Savannah and traveling on
until 6 p.m. when he returned to
Athens.
“I think John will be an excellent
congressman,” said longtime Athens
resident Susan Tate. “The challenges
of this office are better suited to him.”
Tate said Burns didn’t exercise too
much independence during his term
between 2002 and now, adding she
feels he stayed within the party line.
>- See BARROW. Page 2
Kemp, Kidd headed to
Georgia General Assembly
By BRENT MOSLEY
bmosley@randb.com
and
JOSH BROWN
jbrown@randb.com
While Jane Kidd glided to an easy
victory for the District 115 House elec
tion, the District 46 state Senate race
between Brian Kemp and Becky
Vaughn remained close throughout
Tuesday night.
As of press time, Kemp, the incum
bent, led by about 3,600 votes, or 53.2
percent of the electorate. However,
some 11,000 absentee ballots in
Athens-Clarke County, or about 20
percent of the electorate, were still
being counted.
“We knew all along it would be a
close race,” Kemp said.
The state House race was a differ
ent story.
Just before 9 p.m., Democrat Jane
Kidd was ahead of Republican candi
date Bill Cowsert by 1,000 votes.
Shortly thereafter, Cowsert called
Kidd and conceded the election.
Kidd’s campaign party picked up with
clapping and congratulations in the
Trumps room of the Georgian build
ing downtown where they watched
JESSICA BOLLER | The Red & Black
▲ Betty Vandiver, Jane Kidd’s
mother, watches while Kidd
talks to her father, former gov
ernor Earnest Vandiver, after
finding out she won the race for
the House of Representatives.
the votes come in all evening.
“We’re going to celebrate a little,”
Kidd said after hearing the news.
Neither the Kemp nor Vaughn
camps, however, were ready to begin
celebrating Tuesday night.
Kemp said he needed to earn about
40 percent of the ACC vote to feel con
fident of a win.
>- See SENATE, Page 3
Yes 13,366
No 12,404
Amendment Two
Shall the Constitution be
amended so as to provide that the
Supreme Court shall have jurisdic
tion and authority to answer ques
tions of law from any state appel
late or federal district or appellate
court?
Yes 16,599
No 7,246
‘Numbers reflect results as
of press time Wednesday morning.
Source: www.athensclarkecounty.com
Voter turmmt high in Athens
By ERIN CAMP
ecamp@randb.com
Despite the threatening
weather and long lines at polling
places, students and residents of
Athens-Clarke County waited for
hours at a time on Tuesday to
cast their vote in the 2004 elec
tion.
Of the 47,545 voters who are
registered in ACC, about 55 per
cent appeared to cast votes,
according to the ACC Web site
(www.athensclarkecounty.com).
Gale Schrader, director of the
ACC Board of Elections, said
elections results will not be
finalized until the 11,000 absentee
and advance votes are counted.
“I anticipate a 70 percent voter
turnout,” she said.
Absentee and early votes
would be counted overnight,
Schrader said.
On the state level, 92 percent
of precincts reported votes as of
press time early Wednesday
morning, and had approximately
367,777 advance voters and
551,096 voters who voted by
absentee ballots, according to
Cara Hodgeson, spokeswoman for
the Secretary of State’s office.
The Memorial Park precinct
was the last poll to turn in votes
to the ACC Board of Elections.
Memorial Park, located off
Milledge Avenue, is the largest
precinct in terms of population.
Julia Penning, a sophomore at
Gainseville College, said she felt
the effects of heavy voter turnout.
Penning waited for an hour
and a half in a line that stretched
beyond the building to cast her
vote.
“I feel like it’s my civic duty,
and it’s worth the wait,” she said.
At 6 p.m., workers at the poll
said they had yet to take a break
due to the mass of people want
ing to vote.
► See TURNOUT, Page 3
BRETT CLARK | The Red & Black
▲ Amber Brock and Al Clements wait in
line to vote at precinct 4B, by Memorial
park, on Tuesday afternoon.
INSIDE TODAY
News: 2 | Opinions: 4 | Variety: 5 | Sports: 7 | Crossword: 5