David Gibbs defeated incumbent Richard Higgins in Tuesday's Hall County Commission Chair Republican runoff.
No Democrat qualified in the race, meaning that Gibbs will take the seat starting in 2025.
Gibbs spoke on WDUN’s Drive at 5 to discuss his victory.
“First, I would like to thank the voters who supported me and I hope to earn the support of the ones that did not. I would also like to thank Richard Higgins for keeping the campaign about the issues impacting Hall County, and I truly appreciate his public service,” Gibbs said. “I'm looking forward to working with the other commissioners and addressing issues that are negatively affecting Hall County citizens.”
Gibbs talked about the issues he would like to address when he takes the seat.
“Well, the two major issues I heard when I was out on the trail was growth and taxes, obviously, and it was about neck and neck percentage-wise, but I think the growth, obviously the growth impacts everything,” Gibbs said. “That's the culprit of the higher taxes and all for the schools. All the money that's needed, because of the impact of the growth. That's impacting all of our resources in Hall County. So I think the growth is the major concern. We just got to slow it down to where we are not outrunning our resources here in Hall County.”
Gibbs won just over 53% of the vote in the runoff after finishing second to Higgins in the May 21 primary election. It was the second straight election cycle seeking office on the Hall County Board of Commissioners for Gibbs, who also ran for the District 3 seat on the board in 2022.
Gibbs discussed how he will prepare to take the seat on Jan. 1.
“Richard [Higgins] obviously called me today and I will be calling him and obviously got a lot to learn and a lot of questions. I'm going to attend some meetings, so I have just got to be involved with the commissioners and the process up there and learn the process before I take over in January,” Gibbs said. “I have got some training to do. I'm going to be very involved. I'm going to be doing a lot of listening and a lot of learning to get ready for the seat in January.”
Higgins's term will end after 8 years in the office of commission chair that began in 2016 when he replaced the previous chair, Richard Mecum.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/6/1248603/gibbs-wins