Herendon-Weeks, Born, Patterson easily win school board positions
Results: Voters send clear school board message
Fannin County Sheriff Dane Kirby cruised to victory in Tuesday’s General Primary Election, and local voters were just as clear in their choices as they removed three incumbent school board members from their seats.
Kirby captured 4,158 of the 5,521 votes – 75.3 percent – cast in the four-person race for the Republican nomination in the November General Election.
With no Democratic opposition in the General Election, Kirby will begin his fifth consecutive term as Fannin County’s top law enforcement officer in January 2025.
He was quick to share credit for the win with members of his staff on election night, telling several present, “We’re a team. We all got re-elected tonight.”
The other three candidates for the Republican nomination managed only 1,363 votes – 24.7 percent. Billy Brackett came in second with 765 votes, Matthew “Matt” Kaylor was close behind at 513, and Barry Wayne Johnston received 85 votes.
Ashley Herendon-Weeks, Adam Born, and Robert Patterson were all successful in unseating incumbent school board members.
Meanwhile, Dana Chastain and Scott Kiker were re-elected to their positions and Julie Walker won the Tax Commissioner nomination.
Herendon-Weeks was the biggest winner in the school board races, collecting 3,714 votes to unseat Terry Bramlett who received 1,753 votes.
In the race for Lewis DeWeese’s seat, Born won 59.3 percent of the vote by defeating both the incumbent and Greg Staffins. DeWeese received 1,497 votes while 737 voters picked Staffins.
Patterson defeated incumbent Chad Galloway, receiving 3,205 votes to the incumbent’s 2,247.
In the race for Clerk of Superior Court, Chastain was returned to office as she collected 4,052 votes to challenger Philip Owensby’s 1,456 votes.
Kiker received 3,546 votes to challenger Manda Gwatney’s 2,303 to hold on to his Probate Judge position. There were three write-in votes. This non-partisan race was the General Election for the judgship. It does not appear on the November ballot.
In the race for tax commissioner, Walker received 3,099 votes to 2,310 for Robbie “Cornelius” Long. There was no incumbent in the race.
All these races, with the exception of Probate Judge, appeared on the Republican General Primary ballot. But with no opposition on the Democratic Primary, and no Independent candidates having qualified to appear in Novembers, the winners are unopposed in the General Election in November and will take office in January 2024. Only a legal, write-in candidate as specifically defined under Georgia law could enter any race, Fannin County Election Supervisor Mary Ann Conner said.
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