Suspended Rabun County Sheriff loses bid for reelection, preliminary results show

RABUN COUNTY, Ga. — A north Georgia sheriff appears to have lost his bid for re-election days after the governor suspended him from office.

Channel 2 Action News previously reported that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Rabun County Sheriff Chad Nichols in May on sexual battery and public indecency charges.

Gov. Brian Kemp later suspended Nichols on June 14 after he issued an executive order to create a committee to investigate if the sheriff should be removed from office.

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But on election night, Rabun voters elected a new sheriff, based on preliminary ballot results.

Nichols, the incumbent, ran against two other candidates, Mark Anthony Gerrells and Marty Talley.

Based on the preliminary vote numbers, Gerrells won the office, which would oust Nichols, with 44.6% of the vote. Nichols and Talley received 37.52% and 17.08% of the vote respectively.

Nichols lost by just over 300 votes, according to the preliminary tallies.

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The GBI arrested Nichols at the end of May, but did not release other information on what led to his arrest.

Once the investigation into Nichols is complete, the case file will be handed over to the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney.

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