LaHood wins District 175 race
Published 9:26 pm Tuesday, February 13, 2018
- John LaHood won the special election for Georgia State House Representative of District 175 after Tuesday's vote.
VALDOSTA — John LaHood has apparently won the special election for the District 175 House of Representatives seat.
According to preliminary numbers from the Georgia Secretary of State’s website, LaHood beat fellow Republicans Bruce Phelps and Coy Reaves and Democrat Treva Gear.
He replaces former District 175 Rep. Amy Carter. He will serve the remainder of her term.
All of Brooks County and parts of Lowndes and Thomas counties voted in the special election. One precinct in Thomas County had zero votes cast, according to election officials.
LaHood received 70 percent of the vote with 2,337 votes.
Gear had the second most votes with 778 or 24 percent of the vote.
Coy Reaves garnered a little less than 4 percent of the vote with 116 votes.
Bruce Phelps earned 2 percent of the vote with 73 votes.
The numbers could change as provisional ballots won’t be counted until Friday morning. However, LaHood’s overwhelming lead puts him in a safe position, according to election officials.
Lahood graduated from Lowndes High School and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. He is president and chief executive officer of Fellowship Senior Living and lives in Brooks County with his wife, Crystal, of 22 years. They have four children, George, Anna, Jackson and Brown.
He said his priorities will be to make sure the community and South Georgia are given the same priority as the rest of the state.
LaHood stated he would “preserve our conservative South Georgia values. As a Christian, I will not apologize for my faith, and I will never back down from protecting our values.”
He would “protect taxpayers by using my business experience to bring a results-driven approach to state government.
“Improve rural health care and health-care outcomes by pushing Georgia-focused, conservative reforms based in the private sector and protect and support Georgia’s aging population with more choices and a stronger workforce of qualified caregivers.
“Stand strong for our farmers.
“Grow our economy through less government, common-sense business principles and workforce developments to ensure our families can find good jobs and that future generations can stay right here in our community and succeed.
“Safeguard our right to bear arms.”
Gov. Nathan Deal called for the special election after Carter resigned Dec. 31 to become the executive director of advancement position for the Technical College System of Georgia.
She was the District 175 representative for more than a decade. Voting ended Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256