Digging Into the Athens Election Results

Going through precinct-by-precinct results from the May 22 election, one thing jumps out: Harry Sims campaigned for mayor on the premise that residents outside the Loop weren’t getting a fair shake from the county government. But it turns out there wasn’t much of an inside/outside-the-Loop divide after all. Kelly Girtz won at least a plurality in every precinct except the two Sims represented on the commission, and Girtz won over 50 percent of the vote in 19 out of 24 precincts. Turnout was a major factor. In Sims’ former district, it was just 20 percent. In precinct 5C (Chase Street Elementary), where Girtz won 87 percent of the vote, it wa…