For the Georgia House of Representatives District 1 seat to be vacated this year by Martin Scott, the unofficial returns show Dade County Republican John Deffenbaugh of Lookout Mountain defeated Democrat Tom McMahan, also a Dade resident, 10,478 to 4,775 in Tuesday’s general election.

District 1 includes all of Dade and only parts of Walker, but not since the 1960s has Dade had a native son in the seat. It became clear after this summer’s primary runoff, when Deffenbaugh defeated Walker’s Alan Painter for the Republican nomination, that Dade was to enjoy this happy culmination whichever way the general election went.

During the campaign, the issue most discussed by Deffenbaugh and opponent McMahan, a schoolteacher, was the Charter School Amendment on this year’s ballot. McMahan was solidly opposed, while Deffenbaugh took a wait-and-see approach.

Deffenbaugh, a Covenant College graduate who did stints in the U.S. Navy and Air Force, has previously served as a Dade County district commissioner and as chairman of the local Republican Party.