Former Flowery Branch City Councilman Craig Lutz is now a member of the Hall County Board of Commissioners.

He won election Tuesday to the District 1, or South Hall, seat by defeating Democratic challenger Paul Wayne Godfrey by a vote of 13,263 to 2,531.

"I appreciate the other guys that I ran against running - it takes a lot of guts to put your name on a ballot and it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears talking to the community," said Lutz, who celebrated with supporters at the Bottom of the Cup bar and grill off Spout Springs Road in South Hall.

"And I think the community is going to be better for it, having all these people that ran."

Lutz takes over Jan. 1 for Bobby Banks, whom he defeated in a primary runoff earlier this year.

"I can't tell you how excited I am to have an opportunity to get out and represent so many of the people that I have met while on the campaign trail," Lutz said.

Lutz, 42, joins the commission after serving two years of his first four-year term on the Flowery Branch council. He resigned in April to run for the county post.

Godfrey, 63, who was making his first bid for public office, said the results "weren't terribly surprising but disappointing nevertheless."

He said he may run again for public office at some point.

"I have a lot to offer. It's just unfortunate that someone else was chosen (in this election)," Godfrey said.

Lutz joins Scott Gibbs as the board's two new commissioners.

Gibbs won his District 3, or North Hall, seat in the Republican primary. He faced no opposition in Tuesday's election. He replaces Steve Gailey, who opted not to seek re-election.

Before Tuesday's election, Lutz had already formed a bond with Gibbs and Commissioner Ashley Bell over changes they would like to see in county government, including "an urgent sense to change the tone of government in Hall County" and having a better working relationship with Hall's cities.

"Coming from the city of Flowery Branch, I believe I am going to be municipal-friendly," Lutz said. "I think the municipalities are key economic drivers for the county."

Beyond that issue, "we're going to have to focus on revenue streams," he said. "We've had a distressed housing market. Property values continue to adjust to what the true market is, which is going to be down from what they are today.

"That's going to put revenue handcuffs on us, and we're just going to have to go out there and figure out what we can do to efficiently get the budget to reflect right. This isn't a time for tax increases."

Staff writer Melissa Weinman contributed to this report.