Macon prosecutor wins Towaliga D.A.’s race

Macon prosecutor Jonathan Adams, a 40-year-old political newcomer who campaigned on domestic violence issues and taking more criminal cases to trial, beat 16-year incumbent Richard Milam in the Towaliga district attorney’s race.

Adams’ victory in Tuesday’s election saw him win by 460 votes. Adams received 4,683 votes to Milam’s 4,223.

The D.A.’s post he won oversees the Towaliga Judicial Circuit, which also includes neighboring Butts and Lamar counties and the cities of Jackson and Barnesville as well as the Monroe county seat of Forsyth.

Milam, 67, has been D.A. since 1999.

Adams, an assistant district attorney in the Macon Judicial Circuit, which includes Bibb, Crawford and Peach counties, has said he wants to energize the Towaliga post.

Moments after learning he had won the seat late Tuesday, Adams said, “It was a tough race. ... It was about having the right message at the right time and talking to the right people. It’s a very humbling experience.”

Adams, who lives in Monroe County, has served as a military police officer in the Georgia Army National Guard.

“I look forward to having an impact where I live,” he said.

Adams lost to Milam in Milam’s home Butts County, which Milam won by a vote of 2,385 to 1,362. But Adams made up the difference, winning Monroe 2,364 to 1,494 and Lamar by a 957 to 344 count.

Sixteen votes were uncounted due to a voting-machine glitch in Monroe County, but those won’t affect the outcome.

In campaigning for what would have been his fourth consecutive term, Milam, who lives in Jackson, noted his ability to manage cases in three counties and mentioned that he had “unfinished business.”

Namely the high-profile case against Christopher Calmer, who is charged with murder in the 2014 slaying of Monroe sheriff’s deputy Michael Norris. Milam cited the Calmer case as the biggest of his career.

On Tuesday night, Adams said now the toughest thing for him heading into office will be the six-month wait before he takes the helm. He plans to attend monthly hearings in the Calmer case to get up to speed.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 11:27 PM with the headline "Macon prosecutor wins Towaliga D.A.’s race."