MACON, Ga. — Myrtice Johnson says she had her eye set on the school board district 1 seat after retiring as a Bibb County Elementary school principal.
"I've waited 13 -- 12 years for this opportunity," she said.
Her dreams came true after Tuesday night's runoff election results.
"My phone just wouldn't stop ringing of congratulations, so my hat is off to my voters and my supporters. They have really come through for me and I am so proud of them," Johnson said.
During the runoff campaign, she worked on getting endorsements and calling locals, asking for their input on the school district. She was doing whatever she could to get her name out there, despite the limitations of the pandemic.
"Couldn't do much face-to-face, so when I found them in Walmart, when I went shopping, I talked to the people there, finding out what their needs were and how they felt about COVID-19 and that kind of thing," Johnson said.
She beat former defense attorney Tera Edwards with 59% of nearly 5,300 votes, and she's already thinking about her first order of business.
"In January, the students will make another decision as to whether they will continue with the virtual learning or come back to the building, so I think that's going to be a big decision on the board. How are we going to handle this? So I think the first thing on the agenda is dealing with COVID-19," Johnson said.
Johnson commended her opponent, Tera Edwards on a clean race. She said she appreciated that they kept their campaigns about them without putting each other down.