Democrat Spencer Frye won an unorthodox, to say the least, state House race against Republican Carter Kessler in a local state House race, 70 percent to 30 percent.

Kessler, a libertarian until after the July primary, shook his Etch-A-Sketch and drew himself as a center-leaning candidate for the general election, spending $90,000 of his own money in the process. It didn't work.

Spencer Frye talks to a supporter after winning an Athens state House race Tuesday night.

"Definitely, what we wanted to do was make a statement," Frye said. "What we've seen this election cycle is Athens wants results."

Frye ousted 10-term Rep. Keith Heard in the primary. The results show there isn't any bad blood lingering from that at times nasty and racially-tinged race, Frye said.

"It doesn't look like there's too much of a rift," he said. "Thirty-five percent of the vote (in the district) is Republicans, and I feel like our support was across the board."

Along with President Obama's re-election bid and Democrats possibly picking up a seat in the U.S. Senate after many predicted they would lose their majority, the party faithful had reason to celebrate Tuesday night. And they did—hundreds of them at the Georgia Theatre.

Clarke County Democratic Committee Chairman Joe Wisenbaker explained the enthusiasm: "This was about several years when Republicans have dug in, tried to destroy Obama and tried to keep American from getting back on its feet. Obama's approach is creating momentum. It's slower than everybody wants, but it's happening."

In other races, Amendment 1, the charter school amendment, passed with 57 percent and 80 percent of the vote counted statewide—an insurmountable margin—although 54 percent of Athens voters oppose it. Sixty-three percent of voters are in favor of Amendment 2, allowing the state to enter into long-term leases.

Poll workers turn in their equipment and results Tuesday night at the Athens-Clarke Board of Elections.

U.S. Rep. Paul "Pit of Hell" Broun won unopposed, but it's clear that Athens voters are unhappy with him. Unofficial write-in votes for Charles Darwin won't be counted until Wednesday at the earliest, Athens-Clarke Election Supervisor Gail Schrader said. Nearly 7,000 Athenians cast write-in votes against Broun, though—more than 20 times the number cast in other races and a little under half what Broun received. About 16,000 voters skipped over that race, far more than other uncontested races.

State Sen. Frank Ginn, R-Danielsville, beat Democrat Tim Riley 71-29, in spite of Riley's 63-37 lead in Athens. The rest of the district is rural and conservative.

After a runoff between two Republicans next month, the GOP will have a two-thirds majority—allowing them to pass constitutional amendments and override vetoes without bipartisan support—in the Senate because Sen. Doug Stoner, D-Smyrna, lost to Republican Hunter Hill. But in the House, Democrats say they've denied Republicans a supermajority. The count after Tuesday is 119 Republicans, 60 Democrats and one independent, Rep. Rusty Kidd of Milledgville, although Kidd has said he may join the GOP caucus.

“Democrats won decisive victories and held the Republicans below the magic number of 120,” said House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams. “Rep. Rusty Kidd is an independent who does not caucus with either side, but represents Baldwin County that voted for President Barack Obama. House Democrats won the night in Georgia.”

Woo hoo! Obama won, y'all!

John Barrow, the last white Democratic congressman in the Deep South, held on by eight points over Republican Lee Anderson in spite of a district gerrymandered to beat him.

Republican Doug Collins defeated Democrat Jody Cooley 77-23 in a new Northeast Georgia district that includes part of Athens, where Cooley is getting 69 percent.

Republican incumbents Chuck Eaton and Stan Wise easily won re-election to the Public Service Commission, getting 52 and 66 percent of the vote, respectively.

In Georgia and in Athens, as in much of the country, Obama did slightly worse than in 2008. Obama won 45 percent of the vote statewide and 63 percent in Athens, two percentage points less than four years ago. Wisenbaker attributed the dropoff to Obama's lack of a campaign presence.

"I hate to say it, but they wrote us off," he said, while acknowledging that Obama had to use his resources elsewhere. "If they had made a concerted effort in Georgia, I'm sure it would have been a lot closer."

Voting was steady across the city today with a 67 percent turnout, and there were no major problems, according to Athens-Clarke election officials.