Incumbent Mayor Van Johnson matched up against challengers Kesha Gibson-Carter and Tyrisha Davis on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the polls across Savannah. Johnson won in landslide fashion, earning a second term as Savannah’s 67th mayor. With all of the precincts reporting late Tuesday night, Johnson tallied 77 percent of the vote while Gibson-Carter came in second with almost 20 percent. Davis ran a distant third with 3 percent.
“For me, sixty-eight can wait,” Johnson said during a victory speech at his watch party on Savannah’s southside Tuesday night. “I like sixty-seven for right now. And, it appears, I have a job for four more years. Savannah has very clearly chosen to ignore the noise, and for that, I’m grateful.”
After arriving at the Odyssey 2.0 Lounge for his watch party, Johnson waited roughly 20 minutes before addressing the crowd of roughly 150 people. He arrived in a suit, but quickly put on a Savannah State University jersey with the number 67 on the back just below “Mayor Van Johnson” print. Johnson, 55, is a Brooklyn native and an SSU graduate.
“I thank you for choosing dignity over drama. I thank you for looking at the message, instead of the mess,” said Johnson to cheers aplenty. “We live in a magnificent city. It’s a city that is not afraid of hard work. A place where we run to issues, and not away from them. From the guttermost to the utmost, we won’t stop until all means all.”
Johnson tallied 16,773 votes, Gibson-Carter got 4,256 and Davis 667. That adds up to 21,696 votes, not including any write-in votes which made up less than .5% of the total vote count. Attending the watch party were former Savannah mayors and noted Johnson supporters, Edna Jackson and Otis Johnson.
“Part of the reason we won,” said Johnson. “Part of the reason is because I had the best team in the world.”
During his “thank-you” portion of his speech, Van Johnson thanked several current and former Georgia politicians including Raphael Warnock, Jon Ossoff, Stacey Abrams and Keisha Lance Bottoms.
“They didn’t charge me a dime,” Johnson said of the help campaigning. “Because that’s what friends do.”
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This article appears in Connect Savannah | November, 2023.
