Qualifying ended Friday, March 6, setting Georgia’s ballots for the May 19 General Primary and Non-Partisan elections, and at the same time giving a look at the November General Election.
Two of the three Fannin County seats open in May will see competitors square off, State Representative Johnny Chastain and Superior Court Judge B. Alison Sosebee face no opposition, and four candidates are seeking the State Senate seat being vacated by Steve Gooch.
Four Republican candidates have filed for the Post 2 seat on the Fannin County commission; Anna Marie Watkins, John Davenport, Brian Burgess and L.J. Henderson. To advance to the General Election, a candidate must receive 50% of the votes cast plus one more vote, otherwise a runoff election will be held. There is no incumbent in the race as current Commissioner Glenn Patterson has chosen not to seek re-election.
Then, in the General Election, the Republican nominee for Post 2 will be challenged by Democrat candidate Laurence Syputa. He is the only Democrat who qualified for any of the local races.
Three candidates will appear on the Republican ballot seeking to fill Bobby Bearden’s seat on the Board of Education. They are Tim Doherty, Josh Golden and Greg Staffins. Here, too, the 50 percent plus one vote rule applies to avoid a runoff. Bearden is not seeking re-election.
Rhonda Jacobs is the only candidate who qualified to seek Mike Cole’s seat on the Board of Education. She has qualified on the Republican ticket and faces no opposition in either the primary or general election. Cole is not seeking another term.
Chastain has not drawn opposition from either party ballot in his bid for re-election to the Georgia House of Representatives.
Likewise, neither is Sosebee being challenged in her race to remain on bench in the Appalachian Judicial Circuit.
Three Republican candidates and one Democrat are looking to fill the District 51 State Senate seat being vacated by Gooch as he seeks election as Georgia’s next Lieutenant Governor.
Appearing on the Republican Ballot will be William Soloman Wade, John Philip Milam and Steve Shaw. Whoever earns the Republican nomination will face Democrat Gary St. Lawrence in the General Election.
In the Republican race for Lieutenant Governor, Gooch is one of a field of six candidates. Others are Brenda Lynn Nelson-Porter, David Timothy Clark, Gregory Robert Dolezal, John Flanders Kennedy and Michael Blake Tillery.
The Republican nominee will face the winner of a three way race for the Democrat nomination between Josh McLaurin, Nabilah Parkas, and Richard N. Wright.
Applications for absentee ballots are now being accepted through May 8 by the Fannin County Board of Registration and Elections. They will begin going in the mail April 20, according to Fannin County Election Supervisor Mary Ann Conner.