Chatham County Commission District 2 seat headed for Oct. 17 runoff between Hodge and Tootle

The Chatham County Commission District 2 race is headed to a runoff on Oct. 17 after no candidate achieved more than 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s special election. Former Chatham County Election Board member Malinda Scott Hodge and Savannah Republicans District 2 chair David Tootle will face off in round two for the seat once held by the late Larry “Gator” Rivers.

Hodge led the field of four candidates with 43% of the vote, and Tootle followed up with 27%. Two other Democrats, Michael Hamilton and Ni’Aisha Banks rounded out the field.

Billy Wooten, Chatham County Board of Elections Supervisor, said polls opened on time this morning and votes counted accurately this evening.

“We had a smooth day. We did not have any issues at the polls,” Wooten said in an election night interview.

There were a total of 1,208 votes cast Tuesday, which registers a 4.78% turnout rate. Hodge led the way with 520 votes, carrying most of the precincts within the core of Savannah. Tootle had strong showings in precincts in the district’s Southeast region.

“I feel really good about tonight,” Hodge said after the results came in. “I appreciate those who came out and supported me, so I am looking forward to doing this again Oct. 17.”

For the month ahead, Hodge plans to focus on voter outreach to make sure District 2 residents are aware of the upcoming vote.

Tootle and Banks could not be immediately reached when contacted for comment on election night. Banks is a community organizer who has worked as a community justice fellow for Georgia 9to5 and as president of the Parent-Teacher Association in Savannah-Chatham County Schools.

Hamilton, who is commonly known as “coach” for his 26 years of service with the Frank Callen Boys & Girl’s Club, released the following statement on election night in a text message to the Savannah Morning News.

“I would like to thank everyone that supported me on this election. And as I said before my work will remain with being the community man for all.”

The Savannah Morning News will update this story with additional comments if more candidates respond to our requests.

Evan Lasseter is the city and county government reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at elasseter@gannett.com.