Zavogiannis wins in landslide
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?I?m ready to go to work,? said Zavogiannis after her landslide win Thursday evening. ?We?ve worked hard on the campaign trail and we will work hard for the people of Warren and Van Buren counties.?
Zavogiannis was strong all evening, carrying all 21 precincts by wide margins and Van Buren County on the way to a lopsided 8,668 to 2,822 win over Potter.
It was a dramatic change of fortunes as it was Potter, the former public defender, who, in 1998, defeated then-DA Bill Locke by slim margin in Warren County and by a 3-to-1 count in his native Van Buren County.
However, even Van Buren County followed the Zavogiannis trend, falling soundly in the Democrat?s corner by a count of 1,547 to 425.
Zavogiannis advanced to take on Potter by edging past fellow local attorney Robert Newman in the May Democratic Primary by a single percentage point, losing in early voting but winning narrowly on election day in Warren County and winning handily in Van Buren County.
The stretch run then followed with Zavogiannis outspending the incumbent by more than 3-to-1, $52,368 to $16,050.
The win means Zavogiannis will take office Sept. 1 to begin serving her eight-year term. Meanwhile Potter will return to private practice, although the longtime public servant, serving more than 16 years combined as public defender and DA, says he has made no decisions on his future.
?I?m going on vacation for about 10 days and I?ll decide then what I?m going to do,? Potter said. ?I want to congratulate Lisa and challenge her to top our conviction record. If she can do that, she will be a great DA.?
Potter said he hopes Zavogiannis will give his former staff a chance at retaining their jobs, something the winner said she plans to do.
?I?m not planning to go in and clean house,? Zavogiannis said. ?I look forward to the staffers applying and meeting with them.?