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By the time you’re reading this, elections results will be in for all of the local races in Troup County.

As we’re writing this early in the day on Tuesday, we have no idea who won. The front page of today’s paper (and the front page of our website) will be filled with results late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

It’s been a long election season, and you’ve probably been inundated with campaign mailings and seeing signs all over town. Georgia has seemingly had election season after election season, so we know everyone will take a deep breath when all of the results are in.

We’ve got an unexpected race for a commission seat, as well as council races in West Point, Hogansville and LaGrange. We had a loaded ballot for the mayoral race in Hogansville.

But now (excluding run-offs) election season has once again come and gone in Troup County. It’s time for candidates to shake hands and figure out how to move forward.

It takes a lot of courage to run for political office, putting yourself in the public spotlight. It’s not easy. Everyone thinks they have all of the answers, but it’s a different perspective when actually making the decisions.

People love to ask “why isn’t more being done about this?” And at the end of the day, it’s our elected officials who typically have to answer those questions.

They don’t get paid much, though the outside perspective is that they are getting rich holding a council, commission or mayor seat. They aren’t. Not even close.

With that in mind, we say congratulations to the winners of Tuesday night’s election. We can’t wait to work with you in our capacity as the media, and we look forward for the ideas you’ll bring to the table. Whether incumbents had a big night or newcomers, we all know there’s a lot of work to be done moving forward.

Pending a run-off, election season is over, meaning the time to campaign is over. Now, most candidates can now roll up their sleeves and get to work.