John Barge seeks to recapture state school superintendent slot
The Rome resident is among the candidates registering this week to run for local and statewide offices.
Former Georgia schools superintendent John Barge qualified Monday to take another shot at the office.
Barge, a Republican, is a Berry College graduate who taught in Rome, Floyd County and Bartow County schools. He was elected to the state position in 2010 and served four years in the top slot. Instead of seeking re-election, he made an unsuccessful challenge to Gov. Nathan Deal in the 2014 Republican primary.
Barge broke with Deal in 2012 over the governor’s proposed constitutional amendment that would have let the state
create charter schools in any county and divert tax money to support them. Voters soundly defeated the proposal.
This year, Barge will go up against incumbent State School Superintendent Richard Woods, who he beat in the 2010 primary. Democrat Sid Chapman also qualified Monday to run for the seat.
Qualifying runs through noon Friday for the May 22 primaries and nonpartisan general election.
Juvenile Court Judge Greg Price will be on the nonpartisan ballot, along with Superior Court Judge Billy Sparks. Chief Superior Court Judge Tami Colston announced early this year she was retiring and, so far, attorney Kay Ann Wetherington is signed up to run for the vacant seat.
Top vote-getters in the nonpartisan judge races will win outright. Winners of the party primaries will advance to the Nov. 6 general election.
Republican Tom Graves of Ranger qualified Monday to seek another two-year term in Congress representing the 14th District covering Northwest Georgia.
Floyd County’s incumbent state lawmakers, Sen. Chuck Hufstetler and Reps. Eddie Lumsden, Christian Coomer and Katie Dempsey — all Republicans — also signed up to run for another two years.
All the Republican incumbents in county seats also qualified to run for new four-year terms. Rhonda Wallace, Larry Maxey and Scotty Hancock are seeking re-election to the County Commission. Chip Hood and Tony Daniel are running to retain their county school board seats.
Locally, Democrats are registering at the Salter Law Firm, 242 N. Fifth Ave., and Republicans are signing up at the law office of David Guldenschuh, 512 E. First St. Candidates for the nonpartisan Juvenile Court judge seat qualify with the Floyd County Elections Office, 12 E. Fourth Ave.
Candidates for Congress, the Georgia General Assembly, other courts and statewide offices qualify in Atlanta with their parties or the secretary of state’s office at the state capitol.