By FRANCIA McCORMACK
and LOUIS ROLFES
The Red & Black

Crowding the Clayton Street Deli Tuesday night were Democrats of all ages cheering on the TV screen spewing out the latest election results.

Young Republicans spent the evening hopping from party to party supporting candidates in Atlanta.

Clay Anthony, president of Young Democrats of Georgia, said he was happy with voter turnout.

"I feel pretty good at this point," Anthony said. "Higher turnout has historically helped the democrats."

Bert Guy, president of College Republicans, said he was confident of his party’s victory in Georgia.

"I think it’s going to be historic event in Georgia," Guy said. "With Republicans, it’s going to be a competitive two-party state in the end."

As news of Barnes’ victory reached anticipated voters at the deli, the crowd of Democrats cheered with excitement.

"Not only is (Barnes) winning, he’s winning big in all conservative districts," Anthony said.

Democrats were also optimistic about the early reports of the lieutenant governor’s race – which showed Mark Taylor in the lead.

Republicans also had victories to cheer about Tuesday night. Early reports showed Republican Paul Coverdell in the lead for a Senate seat.

"I think it’s going to be a sign people are ready for a change in government – less taxes, smaller government, more power to the citizens," Guy said.

Political science professor Brad Lockerbie said he was cautious about commenting on the early results in the governor’s race.

"I don’t think either of the two candidates will be as nice to the University as Miller in terms of financial resources," Lockerbie said.

Lockerbie said having a Republican representing Georgia in the senate would benefit the state."

Throwing ideology out the window, just looking at federal projects, I’d want at least one senator in the majority party," he said. "If Coverdell retains his position Georgia has a better chance of getting federal projects, because he’s in the majority party."

– Contributing: Kate Douglas, Will Kiser