ANDERSON COUNTY – Ken Waters took 82.14 percent of the vote, handily winning the race to become the next Anderson County Council representative for the Powdersville area.

"It was pretty pleasing," Waters said. "It showed that all the hard work paid off."

Although Waters was the frontrunner in the election, he tried not to take it for granted ahead of time.

"I always play from behind, so I wasn't expecting to win until after I found out I had won," he said.

Waters’ Democrat opponent, Donovan Loftis, took just under 1,599 votes, just under 18 percent. Waters took 7,415 votes, Loftis took 1,599, and the other 13 were for write-in candidates.

Loftis said he appreciated the support of the 1,599 who supported him, and that he had no regrets.

“The only risk is the one not taken,” he said. Even though he admitted that Democrats struggled nationwide on Tuesday, he still was glad he ran as a Democrat. Running as a Democrat was especially hard in Anderson County, where 60 percent of those voting took a straight Republican Party ticket.

“If I had to do it all over again, I would run as a Democrat. I’m going to stay true to who I am,” he said.

Waters had previously defeated Ann Smith and Rick Freemantle in the Republican primary.

He will be replacing incumbent Ron Wilson, who chose not to run for another term. Wilson had been on county council for four years.

Incumbents in the rest of Anderson County had a good night. Republican Francis Crowder, Cindy Wilson, Tom Allen and Eddie Moore all ran unopposed, taking all the votes except for a few for write-in candidates. Tommy Dunn took 64 percent of the vote, defeating Mike Vandiver. Gracie Floyd, the only Democrat on council, also won handily, taking 68 percent of the vote and defeating Jack Abraham.