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When you’ve been covering elections for a while, you typically get a feel for how large the turnout might be. 

Actually, it’s pretty simple. Presidential elections? Big turnout. Gubernatorial elections? Pretty big turnout. Anything else? Typically, too many people sit at home.

When you throw in the curveballs of having a run-off wedged inbetween our two biggest holidays, you really can’t expect much, especially when you consider that control of the Senate was already decided. 

We really expected very few people to vote in this week’s election. 

We were stunned that more than 50% of registered voters in Troup County participated, an enormous turnout that we wish would become the norm in our area.

Adding a Saturday voting day, which added nearly 1,000 votes, was also a good decision that appeared to impact the turnout. 

Congrats to Raphael Warnock and Leon Childs for winning, but we also want to say thank you to everyone who gave a few minutes to ensure their voice was heard at the polls.