Turnout for the Tuesday general election was expected to strong – since early voting numbers already were off the charts.

A total of 9,678 votes were cast in in-person early voting, which ended Friday, and 1,135 ballots were mailed in, for a total of 10,813 voters making their choices before the polls opened Tuesday morning.

Among the local races on the ballot were the Liberty County Commission District 2 race between incumbent Justin Frasier and challenger Alex Shirah and the District 4 school board seat between Natalie Hines and Chassidy Oliveira-Grace.

District 3 Commissioner Connie Thrift ran unopposed, and District 1 school board candidate Lavonia LeCounte also did not face opposition.

Liberty County voters also had an extension of the special purpose local option sales tax on the ballot. Other local races on the ballot were the U.S. House 1st District seat between incumbent Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) and Democrat challenger Wade Herring, a Savannah attorney. Ben Watson, from the state Senate 1st District, was running to retain his seat against Democrat James “Jay” Jones.

State House Rep. Buddy DeLoach (R-Townsend) and Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway) faced no opposition for their seats.

Three Long County commission seats were being contested — the District 2 seat between incumbent John Boy Reddish and challenger Jerry Young, the District 3 seat between newcomers James Craft and Regina Gray and the District 5 seat between incumbent Richard Parker and challenger Lacy Hines.

Long County voters also chose between incumbent Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) and Democrat challenger Michael Moo-Ere for the state Senate.

Results were not available before presstime Tuesday night. For complete results, see www.coastalcourier.com and the November 16 edition of the Coastal Courier.