With 91 percent of the precincts reporting late Tuesday, voting results indicated that John Dickey Crosby will face either Wally Roberts or Ralph “Rusty” Simpson in a runoff Aug. 26 to determine who takes the Republican State Senate District 13 seat. With five candidates in the race, a runoff was expected.

In Tift County, Crosby’s and Simpson’s home base, Crosby overwhelmingly defeated Simpson by a vote of 1,444 to 563 with Horace Hudgins of Ocilla receiving 161 votes here to Roberts’ 26.

State Senate District 13 consists of Ben Hill, Crisp, Irwin, Lee, Tift, Turner, Worth and a portion of Wilcox County. At press time with 91 percent of the precincts in the district reporting, Crosby had received 33.6 percent of the vote to Roberts’ 22.5 percent and Simpson’s 21 percent.

Roberts soundly defeated Bob Usry in their home county of Lee with Roberts receiving 1,026 votes to Usry’s 447.

Hudgins won 66 of the 103 votes cast in Irwin County, with Crosby getting 19 to Simpson’s 15 there.

Interestingly, only two people in Wilcox County voted on the Republican ticket Tuesday and Simpson received both of those votes.

The State Senate District 13 special election was held Tuesday to fill the vacancy created when Joseph Carter withdrew from the race to run for the Tift Superior Court Judge position. Crosby served as Tift Superior Court Judge for 20 years and Simpson also served as a Tift Superior Court Judge when he was appointed to fill the vacancy left when Harvey Davis died before his term ended. Roberts serves as a Lee County commissioner and is a retired Georgia State Trooper.

To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.