“This is one of the greatest things that’s ever happened in my life.”

Those words spoken by County Commission-elect Eric Maxwell to a crowd of devoted supporters at the Longbranch Restaurant in Fayetteville brought one of the county’s hottest elections to a close, just before 11 p.m. Tuesday night.

Maxwell defeated Commission Chairman Greg Dunn by a margin of 256 votes; 5,836-5,580. In the other County Commission race, incumbent Linda Wells outpaced her two opponents. Wells garnered 5,528 votes, while CPA Jack Smith received 3,268 votes and banker Sam Chapman received 2,643 votes. Wells will face Smith in the Aug. 8 runoff, and the winner faces Democrat Rod Mack in the November election.

During the nearly four hours after the polls closed until Maxwell was declared the unofficial winner, the drama was as sticky as the July night.

At the American Legion Log Cabin in Fayetteville, Dunn’s supporters gathered for what they hoped would be a victory celebration. Patriotic music blared through the building, while Dunn and Wells chatted with visitors, including Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele and former County Commissioner Rick Price. The hall was decorated with red, white and blue bunting, while a life-size cardboard cut-out of President Bush watched the gathering.

Across the street at the Fayette County Administrative Complex, politicos gathered to watch the results posted in the commission meeting room. Results started coming in shortly after 8 p.m. and the first precinct report showed Dunn leading by a few votes, while Wells was leading her two opponents with more than 50 percent of the votes.

Supporters of both Maxwell and Dunn, along with Sam Chapman, School Board member Lee Wright and School Board candidate Bob Todd eventually joined the crowd.

The early results continued to favor Dunn, which left many of his supporters with a small smile and a look of concern on Tax Commissioner George Wingo’s face.

But at 9:07 p.m., the tide turned in Maxwell’s favor. The results of 32 precincts were posted on the large screen in the meeting room, and Maxwell took the lead from Dunn. The mood in the room shifted, as residents scrambled to answer the chirps of their cell phones and confirm that Maxwell had overtaken Dunn.

Dunn and his wife Janet examined which precincts were still to be counted, and waited for more results to be posted. But as the final precincts were posted, a sense of finality surrounded the chairman.

“Well, my golf handicap will go down,” he said.

Finally, the race was down to just over 400 absentee ballots that had to be counted by hand. But Dunn and Bill Nigro, who had analyzed the race for Dunn, realized he would have to garner nearly 80 percent of the ballots to eke out a victory. At nearly 10:30 p.m., the race was over and the mood was ebullient at the Longbranch restaurant.

“I’m just humbled by this. This reminds me of when I carried the Olympic torch through Peachtree City, which was 10 years ago almost to the day,” said Maxwell.

Maxwell’s supporters, including Sheriff Randall Johnson, Lt. Colonel Bruce Jordan and County Commissioner Herb Frady rejoiced in the victory and claimed it was a new day in Fayette County.

In the other races, incumbent School Board member Lee Wright defeated Faith Hardnett by a count of 5,309-3,613, while former School Board member Bob Todd defeated Frank Oakley by a 4,347-2,013 margin.

“I just want to give something back to the community,” said Todd.

In the State House 72 race, incumbent Dan Lakly defeated former County Commissioner Bill Bonner by an almost 2-1 margin, 3,658-2018.