EAST COBB - Republicans in Cobb and across the state overwhelmingly chose east Cobb's Sam Olens as their nominee for attorney general Tuesday. He will face Democrat Ken Hodges in the Nov. 2 general election.

Statewide results show Olens took 299,235 votes, or 58.9 percent, to Smith's 208,926 votes, or 41.1 percent, in Tuesday's runoff election.

Olens, the county's former chairman, also overwhelmingly carried Cobb, with 43,551 votes, or 83.09 percent, to Smith's 8,862 votes, or 16.91 percent.

After Smith conceded in a call to Olens, who was celebrating his election party at the Paper Mill Grill in east Cobb, Olens told the Journal he "felt great, but keep in mind when you're running a campaign, a lot of folks have spent a lot of time helping you, and what you feel most is the excitement of all the hard work that they have put in has been worth it."

"The many volunteers, the many grassroots leaders, you really don't want to let them down, so you really care far more about them and their time on the campaign, and it's great to see all that hard work pay off and be so fruitful, and now to move forward for November," Olens said.

Olens said he expects to beat the Democratic contender in November by doing the same thing he's done to date, which is work the entire state.

"We're going to continue to go everywhere in the state to really have a statewide campaign," Olens said.

"You know, the prevailing wisdom in a runoff is you campaign where your strength is," Olens said. "I overtly spent more time elsewhere in the state than I did in metro Atlanta, and that's because I just sincerely believe if you're going to be a statewide candidate you need to be a statewide candidate, and it's been a fantastic opportunity, a fantastic experience."

Olens believes he beat Smith in the run off because of all the contacts he made around the state.

"You know, people don't want to hear from folks the week before the election, the weekend before the election for the first time ... So I really had an advantage by working hard early on and continuing to meet additional folks throughout the state," he said.

Being endorsed by the Georgia Christian Coalition was also important, he said.

"I think that was clearly important," Olens said. "It demonstrated for all concerned that I am a conservative, that I am a proven conservative. Folks knew that I was a fiscal conservative, but that endorsement greatly assisted to show that I was also socially conservative."

Olens said the chance to be Georgia's top attorney is a fantastic opportunity.

"Which lawyer would not want to be the state's lawyer? Which lawyer would not want to be in issues such as reapportionment, water supply, motor check, health care - these are exciting issues. These are issues that you have to wake up wanting to be a part of. And it would be a great opportunity for me if given the people's confidences on Nov. 2," he said.

Among the heavy hitters at his election party were U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-east Cobb).

"Sam Olens is in politics for all the right reasons," Isakson said. "He's a great nominee, and he will be a great attorney general. He's been my friend since he's been in Cobb County. Sam Olens has judicial temperament, legislative temperament and a deep sense of character, and those are the three combinations that you want to see in an attorney general," Isakson said.

Also in attendance was Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.

"Sam Olens was a principled and proven conservative leader for Cobb County," Cagle said. "... He'll no doubt run an aggressive and disciplined general election campaign, and I'm convinced he'll be a strong voice for law and order as Georgia's next attorney general."

In the July 20 primary, Olens handily carried Cobb, taking 74 percent of the vote (42,267 votes). Smith came in third in Cobb in that vote, with 12.7 percent of the vote (7,214 votes), behind former U.S. Attorney Max Wood, who earned 12.8 percent (7,305 votes).

Statewide Republicans also clearly favored Olens on July 20, giving him 40 percent, or 229,769 votes. Smith took 176,656 votes (31%) on July 20, and Wood earned 170,067 votes (30%).

Smith did not return calls or emails for this article.

Olens was the top cash collector for this runoff. According to his latest financial disclosure report, he raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars - $245,600, to be exact - just for the runoff election, and he had $37,576 in cash on hand as of the Aug. 6 filing. Smith, meanwhile, took in about $77,515 for the run-off, and had $49,700 on hand.

Olens and Smith are both conservatives with similar stances on the hot-button issues currently facing the state's top lawyer. Both have vowed to fight the federal government's health care takeover, for example, and promised to enforce laws against illegal immigration. Olens, who had served as Cobb's county chairman for eight years, even promised that he would designate post-secondary education as a public benefit, and require public colleges to verify students' immigration status.

Dr. Kerwin Swint, an elections specialist at Kennesaw State University, had predicted Olens would win the runoff by "a healthy margin."

"His support seems to be both wide and deep," Swint said late last week. "His strength in metro Atlanta carried him to first place on primary night, and will likely do so again in the runoff. But he should also do well with social conservatives outside the metro area, due largely to the A+ rating from the Christian Coalition. That rating from the CC may be his 'Sarah Palin,' inoculating him from attacks by his opponent."

MDJ News Editor Kim Isaza contributed to this report