By Jayson Larson
March 05, 2008 04:32 pm
—
On a night of upsets, this may have been the biggest. Attorney Scott McKee, who once worked as an assistant district attorney under Donna Bennett, took her job Tuesday night. McKee, who has a law office in Athens, held a 20-point margin after early votes were released and never looked back.
When the final votes were tallied, McKee earned 5,699 votes compared to
3,531 votes for Bennett. McKee won roughly 62 percent of the vote.
McKee spent most of the night at the Henderson County Courthouse, shaking
hands and eagerly awaiting the latest vote counts with others. He wore a royal blue campaign shirt on which his campaignıs main slogan was embroidered: McKee for change.
Just numb, a little numb, McKee said after the final votes were tallied.
Weve worked so hard for the last eight months, and immediately when we
started campaigning, people were talking about the change they wanted.
Bennett, who was hoping to be elected to her fourth full term, was an assistant prosecutor under former District Attorney E. Ray Andrews when she was elected in 1994 to fill his unexpired term.
After winning her first two contested elections by an average of about 3,000
votes, Bennett saw a much closer race play out in 2004 when she faced Barry
Bilger, then an Athens attorney. She beat Bilger by 760 votes.
Bennett, who said she was going to spend Tuesday night awaiting election
results with family members, was not available for comment.
Early voting results were released around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday night - about 15 minutes earlier than expected. Those results showed McKee ahead of Bennett
by a margin of roughly 60 percent to 40 percent. McKee received 2,043 votes
to 1,333 votes for Bennett in early balloting.
During the campaign, McKee hammered on Bennettıs record, criticizing her for offering probation in cases involving sexual assaults against children and drug manufacturing. He said probation probably should never be offered in such cases.
McKee on Tuesday said he respects the job Bennett did as an administrator in the District Attorneyıs Office, but said it was that philosophical difference in how cases should be prosecuted that led him to run for the office.
After 13 years, when youıre in office so long, you tend to get more and
more exposed as time goes on, McKee said of Bennettıs tenure, adding that
he wants the office to have an image of being tough on crime. I want to
change the culture of what people think about the DAıs Office. Iıd like to
have that type of culture, where weıre tough.
For her part, Bennett pointed out a McKee resume she said was short on experience. She said he had only served three years as a prosecutor and ³would not even be qualified² to run as a district attorney in other counties.
McKee offered his support to Bennett in the upcoming months as her office
prepares to seat a jury and begin the capital murder trial of Randall Wayne
Mays - who faces charges of fatally shooting two Henderson County Sheriffıs
Department deputies last spring.
Two more capital murder cases are on the docket.
While he waits to take office early next year, McKee said he will work to
meet the obligations of his private practice clients.
James Owen as county attorney, but in the end, the voters spoke.
And how.
Sixty-two percent of them said they wanted a change, and that the
37-year-old Davis was the man they wanted to replace Owen as their county
attorney, beginning the first day of next year.
³Most of all I want to thank my family and my friends for their support,
particularly over the last couple of years,² the soft-spoken Davis said from
an election watch party on the third floor of the First State Bank building
in Athens late Tuesday.
Without mentioning names, Davis appeared to be referring to the public call
by local attorney Fred Head to have Davis removed from his position as
chairman-elect of the Athens Chamber of Commerce for allegedly not revealing
his bankruptcy in 2003. Owen also ran advertising mentioning his opponentıs
bankruptcy.
The Chamber called an emergency meeting the day after Head addressed 15
empty chairs at the Chamber, giving Davis an immediate vote of confidence
and, in effect, appearing to repudiate Headıs demands.
Whether the voters did the same thing Tuesday is another matter for
conjecture, but the final tally showed Davis with 3,381 votes to Owenıs
2,224, or 62 percent to 38 percent.
Owen went down much the same way he has conducted his office the last eight
years in controversy.
Late in the evening, when it was obvious he was going to take an
old-fashioned political thrashing from his opponent, the county attorney
avoided political correctness, as he often has in the past.
³Iım concerned for the people of Henderson County,² Owen said. ³I donıt
believe heıs (Davis) capable enough to do the job because of his lack of
experience.²
Whether Owen was speaking out of anger, or simply from his heart, county
residents will have to argue among themselves.
³Iım concerned for the people of Henderson County,² Owen said. ³I donıt
believe heıs (Davis) capable enough to do the job because of his lack of
experience.²
Davis avoided answering Owenıs criticism directly.
³Iıll let him vent and weıll leave it at that,² he said. ³In my heart I
believe it was a change that will be good for the county.²
Davis said he has no ill will toward his opponent or anyone else.
Asked if the events of the last couple of weeks may have worked in his
favor, Davis said, ³I donıt think it was a determining factor. I do believe
it worked to Jamesı detriment, but I donıt think it affected the final
outcome.
³I donıt hold a grudge or have ill-will toward James Owen or anyone else. I
hope we can put aside our differences and work for the good of Henderson
County.²
Owen agreed with Davis that the events of the last couple of weeks had
little affect on the race. ³The early balloting was before all this
happened, and he had a big lead then,² Owen said.
Asked what he thought happened, Owen flashed a wry grin and said,
³Obviously, I made some people mad.²
As for his immediate plans, Owen said, ³Iım going to be the county attorney
until the end of the year, just like I promised I would.²
Davis will have eight long months to think about what heıll do when he takes
office. ³Iım looking forward to taking office and working for the citizens
of Henderson County,² he said. Until then, he plans to continue with his law
practice.
And yes, he said, he will definitely give up his law practice and be a
full-time county attorney when he takes office a promise Davis made to
voters during the campaign while criticizing his opponent for keeping his
law practice alive during his tenure.
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