The Red and Black

By ANDREW DeMILLO The Red & Black

Doc Eldridge entered the Athens-Clarke Courthouse Tuesday night a county commissioner and left as the city's mayor-elect.

In a landslide victory, Eldridge, a Democrat, defeated Republican opponent Victoria Pate in his bid to become Athens' top elected official.

The commissioner was greeted by a large crowd of supporters gathered at the Clarke County Courthouse waiting for election results.

"I'm just tickled pink," Eldridge said. "It feels good. This is the end of a very long journey."

Joined by a handful of supporters and friends, Pate waited for election returns at the Republican Headquarters on Milledge Avenue.

"This is one of the most horrible gut-wrenching feelings ever," Pate said as she listened to the returns reported on the radio.

Even though she didn't have any comment after the election was called, Pate said she was glad she aggressively campaigned the traditionally Democratic Clarke County.

"I really do think that, no matter what, this has helped to revitalize the party," Pate said. "When you feel strongly enough about something, I think you need to take a stand and do what's right."

Anxiously awaiting returns from the day's elections, Eldridge sat during his regular Tuesday night commission meeting.

"This is absolutely nerve-racking," Eldridge said. "But this is the place I need to be."

Other A-C commissioners and officials joined Eldridge as he celebrated his apparent victory at the courthouse. Commissioner Harry Sims said he wasn't surprised by Eldridge's strong support.

"It was felt that this was going to be a big boom," Sims said.

"I'm excited about working with him in this way. It'll be a good opportunity to make some progress for Athens," he said.

Eldridge's victory will give the A-C government an opportunity to move in a different direction, Commissioner Tom Chasteen said.

"I think he'll give us a little bit more balance than we've had this year," Chasteen said. "We don't need to get too far to either side of the political poles."

Still relishing his victory, Eldridge said it was too soon to make any concrete plans on his first days in office.

"We need to focus on getting this government moving forward," Eldridge said. "I need a few days to recover from this. Then we just need to move on from here."

In a written statement, Pate thanked her supporters for a "long and fun campaign."

"By running, we have forced Doc to work harder and more clearly define himself," she said. "I compliment him on his victory and look forward to him fulfilling the promises that he has made during the campaign."

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