As I wrote on Tuesday night, Georgia’s runoff elections were a bit of a mixed bag for me. My only disappointment was that Rick Jackson defeated Burt Jones for the GOP nomination for governor. So my vote for governor in November is going to be far more a "hold my nose" vote than full support.
But there were other things to find encouragement from on Tuesday night, and I’m not just talking about my Georgia Bulldogs polishing off the Texas Longhorns in the College World Series. And one Georgia city dodged a massive bullet in its mayoral runoff.
While most of the attention was on statewide races, last night was also a great night for Athens: our community rejected socialism, and the Dawgs won!
— Houston Gaines (@houstongaines) June 17, 2026
Residents of Athens, Ga., voted on Tuesday night in the runoffs for the mayoral contest as well as two commissioners for the Athens-Clarke County unified government. The mayoral runoff pitted the top two candidates from the primary: longtime community servant Dexter Fisher and Democratic Socialist Tim Denson.
Athens-Clarke County is as woke as a college town can be. This is the county that gave us the commissioner who took her oath of office in the most unusual way. I wrote about her in 2018:
One of the most fascinating candidates in Athens’ blue wave is Mariah Parker, the newly inaugurated commissioner for the county’s 2nd district. The 26-year-old is studying for her doctorate at UGA, and she records and performs hip-hop under the moniker Lingua Franca. She threw her hat into the ring late — February, to be exact — but she was able to barely coast in along with the other radicals in Athens.
African-American sites like The Root and Blavity have taken notice of Parker, in part because of what Blavity referred to as “the most poppin’ fro,” but mainly for her unusual swearing-in earlier this week. Parker took her oath of office not on the Bible, but on a copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and with the fist of the Black Power salute rather than raising her right hand.
Parker’s oath of office stirred up some controversy at the ceremony and began to garner national attention.
“They asked if they would like the Bible and I said no. My mother asked if there was a copy of the Constitution around. No,” Parker told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I wanted Malcolm’s book. I think they saw it coming.”
Athens-Clarke County also gave us the commissioner who accused University of Georgia football players of “raping and murdering.” I wrote about that in 2022:
At a Thursday night meeting, commissioners appeared to be talking among themselves on a hot mic about the Bulldogs who had recently been drafted into the NFL. Democrat Melissa Link made two references to football players “raping and murdering.”
Another far-left commissioner, Mariah Parker, whom I introduced to you in 2018 when she first went into office because she swore her oath on a copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and gave the Black Power salute, made a comment about “drafting [the players] back,” when Link said, “a lot of them are out there raping and murdering.” Link repeated her claim seconds later.
[…]
In the clip, you can hear Parker cut Link off with, “WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, allegedly.”
After the murder of Laken Riley on the campus of the University of Georgia, voters got smart and voted out woke, incompetent District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez. They got smart again and chose Fisher over Denson, even though Denson won a plurality of votes in the primary.
Flashback: 'All Politics Is Local': College Town Turns the Page on Its Woke DA
Flagpole, an independent college-town magazine and website, reports:
Dexter Fisher came from behind to win the Athens-Clarke County mayor’s race Tuesday, beating the May 19 frontrunner, Tim Denson, 53% to 47%.
Fisher will become Athens’ first Black mayor—a possibility he emphasized in the closing weeks of the campaign.
“Who would have thought a little boy from Greenwood, SC, raised by a single mom, would be heading the sixth-largest city in Georgia?” he said, speaking to about 100 supporters at Epting Events’ 1055 Barber space.
He pledged to restore transparency and trust to local government, to support businesses, form partnerships and get infrastructure projects done on time. He also invited his opponents’ supporters to join him after a particularly divisive campaign that played out in ugly fashion on social media.
“You better put on your running shoes, because we’re going to hit the ground running,” he said.
It’s an understatement to say that Athens-Clarke County leans heavily Democrat, but Fisher paints himself as a more reasonable Democrat. He’s certainly more palatable to non-radicals than Denson.
“Dexter is a voice of reason in a time that demands calm, capable leadership,” Fisher’s campaign website says. “As mayor, he will continue to listen, lead, and deliver for every corner of Athens-Clarke County.”
Fisher’s platform included public safety measures that protect “both residents and first responders,” as well as combatting crime. He also wants to put a focus on fiscal responsibility and working with people of all political stripes.
It’s refreshing to see the Classic City reject socialism, especially after the last eight years under hyperprogressive Mayor Kelly Girtz, who leaves office under term limits. You can’t walk anywhere in downtown Athens without encountering homeless people, and Riley’s murder is the horrifying, highest-profile example of how bad crime has gotten.
In the left’s race even further to the left, we’re seeing socialists show their true colors. Thankfully, Athens-Clarke County voters chose a saner, more reasonable path.
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