Charles "Chuck" Thaxton, running as an independent, defeated incumbent Dist. 9 Polk County Board of Education member Jerry Baldwin in Tuesday's runoff election.

The final, unofficial results posted Tuesday night at the polling office in Cedartown were: Thaxton, 575; Baldwin, 362.

Thaxton extended his appreciation to his supporters and to his family, noting that it has been "a six-month process."

"I'm looking forward to working with the other eight members fo the board, the administrative staff and of course, our teachers," Thaxton said.

"There are going to be some tough times ahead of us," he added. "I'm going to make decisions based on what is best for Polk County and for the students and the staff of Polk County's schools."

Thaxton also extended his thanks to his opponent for his "many years of public service."

The school board race was the only local race in the runoff election. And, less than 10 percent of Polk County's runoff voters were eligible to take part in the Dist. 9 race.

The area served by Dist. 9 includes only three of the county's 12 voting precincts: Antioch, Fish Creek and Rockmart.

By precinct, votes were as follows:

Antioch -- Thaxton, 115; Baldwin, 67

Fish Creek -- Thaxton, 288; Baldwin, 192;

Rockmart -- Thaxton, 71; Baldwin, 33.

The runoff was necessary because there was a very close three-way race in the Nov. 4 General Election.

Baldwin (D) had the most votes, with 622, followed by Frank Plant (R) with 611 and Thaxton close behind with 606.

That vote tally normally would have meant a runoff between Baldwin and Plant. However, Plant withdrew his name immediately after the election results were finalized.