Veteran Bulloch County Commissioner Anthony Simmons had great compliments for his opponent Tuesday night as he accepted victory in the race for the District 1B Bulloch County Commission race.
      Simmons swept past challenger Jonathan McCollar with more than 60 percent of the vote. Simmons garnered 340 votes while McCollar took 221 votes, at just over 39 percent.
      Simmons awaited poll results at his home and spoke to the Statesboro Herald shortly after the results were in. McCollar was not immediately available for comment.
      "I want to thank the people for having confidence in me for four more years," Simmons said. He had held the seat unopposed for 16 years. Since his first race to fill the new commission seat created by a NAACP class action suit, he has remained unchallenged until McCollar stepped up to plate in this race.
      "I worked as hard as I could and didn't take the vote for granted," he said,
      He had high praise for McCollar and said he hopes to work with him closely as they help make Bulloch County a better place.
      "My opponent worked hard," he said. "He is a young man and I see a huge future for him in politics and in the community. He believes in the community and so do I," he continued. "I am looking forward to working with him. We need the vitality he has. He can do a lot of good in Bulloch County and he and I can do that together."
      Simmons also voiced excitement over former Bulloch County commissioner Jan Tankersley's winning bid for Georgia House of Representatives District 158 seat. Her sweeping command of the seat will "mean a lot of good things for Bulloch County," he said. Tankersley won the seat by a landslide vote of 2,268 to 1,166 votes for challenger Tom McElwee.