When Murray County voters went to the polls for Tuesday’s runoff elections, one thing was certain: they would have a new person for Magistrate Court Post 2.
And just like in the general primary election, only a few votes separated the top two.
Eric Hooker won on Tuesday with 1,344 votes (51.3 percent), beating out John Waters with 1,276 votes (48.7 percent).
Hooker and Waters, both Murray County natives, finished in the top two spots in a six-way race on July 31, but neither got the 50 percent of the vote plus one needed to claim the seat. Hooker received 23.3 percent of the vote (1,338) then while Waters got 21.4 percent (1,226).
“I’m just excited,” Hooker said. “I’m grateful that the citizens of Murray County chose me. With everything else going on in the county, I hope I can meet or exceed their expectations and I look forward to being able to help these kids. I’ve said all along I’m not in it for a job, I’m in it for the community. Always have been. I’m excited to be able to start a scholarship program for the high school seniors when they graduate with some of my pay from the Magistrate’s office.”
Hooker is a former jailer at the sheriff’s office who also worked at the Chatsworth and Fairmount police departments. He is now a vice president of Big Bob’s of America, a franchise flooring organization with an office in Dalton.
Waters said the first thing he did after seeing the results was call Hooker to congratulate him. In the primary election, Waters finished 112 votes behind Hooker. This time, Waters finished 68 votes behind Hooker. Closing the gap was due to “good, old fashioned hard work,” Waters said.
“I got out and just every day I was doing something related to the election,” Waters said. “I was calling people, knocking on doors, spreading my message.”
Waters served as a corpsman — similar to a medic in the Army — in the U.S. Navy from 1989-1993, where he worked with the Marines and traveled throughout the Caribbean. He has been self-employed in several ventures since 1996, and is currently the owner of Auto Tech in Chatsworth.
Election-Local
August 22, 2012
Hooker edges Waters for court position
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