Local & State Headlines

Voters sweep Edwards in as chief prosecutor

• Greg Edwards will replace Ken Hodges as Dougherty district attorney.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Greg Edwards, the longtime understudy of Dougherty District Attorney Ken Hodges, will get the opportunity to step to the forefront of the Dougherty Judicial system after soundly defeating challenger Ingrid Driskell Tuesday.

Edwards ascended to the post carrying 74 percent of the popular vote defeating Driskell 11,847-4,224.

At his victory party at the State Theatre, Edwards thanked the voters for giving him the opportunity to continue to serve the community and said he would fulfill his campaign promises.

“I plan on keeping my pledge to the constituents by being an advocate for victims, working to reduce teen pregnancy, restoring justice to those in the community and just building strong cases,” Edwards said.

Driskell said she was disappointed with the results, pointing to a low voter turnout as one reason for her defeat, but said that no matter the outcome she would continue to work for the public good.

“I’m a little disappointed obviously,” Driskell said. “I don’t know why the voters just didn’t come out as expected, but I’m not going anywhere I’m still going to work for this community.”

Driskell, a defense attorney working with the Dougherty Circuit’s Public Defender Office, built her campaign around promises to build what she called sound, evidence- based cases rather than prosecuting everyone that came through the door.

Edwards, who has served as Hodges’ chief assistant since 1995, developed his campaign around his record as a local prosecutor and what he called his zeal for victims’ rights.

The race to replace Hodges was one often fraught with subtle and not-so-subtle attacks aimed at discrediting each other.

Calling him “Ken two,” Driskell took aim at Edwards’ close ties with Hodges, who she said often mismanaged cases and used his office as a means for political attacks on those he viewed as a threat to his power.

Edwards took issue with what he called Driskell’s lack of experience prosecuting cases and chastised her plan to selectively prosecute cases as a posture weak on crime.

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