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No drama in third Erwin-Gasaway contest

After two disputed victories, Chris Erwin trounced former state Rep. Dan Gasaway on Tuesday to win a Georgia House seat and end one of the state's most bizarre and bitterly contestedelections.

The race between the two Republicans to represent House District 28 turned into a recurring drama for residents of northeast Georgia, complete with bruising political maneuvering, courtroom intrigue and claims of voter fraud.

The third vote, however, was devoid of any nail-biting end: The Secretary of State's office reports that Erwin captured three-quarters of the vote with all precincts reporting.

“I am so proud that our team has won three elections in less than 12 months,” Erwin said after the votes were tallied. “With a margin of over 3,000 votes, tonight’s results cannot be questioned or disputed.”

Erwin led the previous two votes by a narrower margin, but both times a judge threw out the results because they were tainted by illegal votes. That also left the residents of the district, which spans Banks, Habersham and Stephens counties, without a representative for the last weeks of the legislative session.

The do-over déjà vu began during the May GOP primary that first pitted Erwin against Gasaway, a three-term incumbent. No Democrat ran for the solidly-Republican seat; Donald Trump carried the district with more than 80 percent of the vote in 2016.

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