Mayes, Madden and Martin win seats
♦ GOP primaries locally determine seats for uncontested elections in November
Primary Day has come and gone in Polk County, with a trio of local races now decided who will take over when seats change hands in January 2019 on the Board of Commissioners and Board of Education.
Republican voters are sending new representatives for the District 1 county commission and District 1 and District 4 school board seats, with one of those races ending with a single digit margin of victory for the challenger.
Vicki Mayes said she was relieved the results came out in her favor in the GOP primary for District 4, where she unseated three- term incumbent Grady McCrickard for the seat when a new term starts in January 2019.
Mayes defeated McCrickard by just an eight vote margin for the District 4 school board seat. The tally came down to 219 for Mayes, 0r 50.93 percent of the vote, versus 211 for McCrickard, or 49.07 percent.
She said when she takes office in January, the first item on her list to accomplish is to continue to rebuild trust between the board, educators and the community as a whole.
“There has been a lot of work to start the process, but there’s still some work to do,” Mayes said.
The forthcoming District 4 school board member will be joined by another new face on the board, future District 1 representative Britt Madden Jr. He won with 219 vote count, or 64.41 percent of the vote, versus the 121 votes received for Robert Furr, or 35.59 percent.
“I am relieved and I’m excited to go to work for the families in Polk County,” Madden said.
He said his plan prior to when he takes over the seat in January is to examine the issues before the board, and be as informed as possible.
“I want to be ready to lead on Day one,” Madden said.
He added that he was thankful for his family, friends, church and many more who helped support him during his campaign for office, one
that took wild turns when first Furr was disqualified from the ballot, then reinstated after Superior Court Judge Michael Murphy decision to overturn the Board of Elections decision earlier this month.
Madden will take over as the new District 1 representative replacing Jane Hamlett on the board, who didn’t run for a new term in office after serving three terms as well. Madden said his priorities are to work to learn at first before he take office.
In the District 1 County Commission race, Jose Iglesias will be replaced on the board by Gary Martin when the rest of the term he filled comes to a close.
Martin won 1,732 (66.67 percent) to 866 for Iglesias (33.33 percent) in the GOP primary, and like the two school board candidates faces no challengers in the November election.
The winner said he plans to get familiar with the policies for Polk County before he gets to work at the start of 2019.
“We’ve got a lot of things on the plate. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and go to work,” Martin said.
Iglesias and Martin shook hands, and Martin complimented Iglesias for running what he called a “gentlemanly” campaign, one based on issues.
“Jose was a formidable person,” he said. “We didn’t throw rocks at each other, and we helped each other… It was an enjoyable campaign, a rough, long campaign. It was enjoyable.”
He was glad to have won a seat on the county commission after seeking the job in 2017, and said he looked to address a number of concerns brought up by voters during the race Martin said he hopes to address in due time.
“I’ve been a person who (keeps to) two term limits,” Martin said. “I did two terms with the city, and I got out and refocused, refocused my mind. Think about what’s going on our county. And I love this county, I really love this county. I want our county to take a step up and I think we’re going to do that. I’m happy as a lark to do that.”
Martin added that he will always give straight answers when he is asked about problems or concerns from citizens, whether they like what he has to say or not.
“I might get some rocks thrown at me, but that is the way politics goes,” Martin said.
He was previously a candidate for the job of filling the rest of the term left over by former Commissioner Jason Ward when he vacated the seat in a move to Jacksonville, Fla., last summer.
Iglesias was chosen among several candidates for the job to take over the remaining term.
He said despite losing his first election, he was glad to see Martin get onto the board.
“This is my first time running for election, and I’m happy with the results,” Iglesias said. “I know I’m there until December, and we have a lot of work to do before the year is over. I want to make sure the transition is smooth.”
Iglesias said he would definitely look to run for office again.
“My favorite by Bible verse is that all things work together for good,” Iglesias said. “So I think this is sort of a preparation for something greater to come. I’ve been saying that Polk County has greater things (to come,) and the little I’ve been able to do is setting a foundation for finishing out Jason Ward’s term.”
Iglesias despite saying he’s had to “learn to swim fast” in his position as a commissioner is only preparing him for “greater things” and that he looks forward to a bright future for Polk County.
“I’m really happy for Gary Martin,” Iglesias said. “I know he is a hard working man, and I congratulate him.”
Statewide races
A number of candidates in statewide races were also chosen thanks to the portion of Polk County voters taking part in the 2018 primary.
Included in those results were the need for a run-0ff between Casey Cagle and Brian Kemp in statewide races after 99 percent of precincts reported on May 22. Cagle across Georgia received just over 39 percent of the vote in the GOP primary, and his opponent will be Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who earned just over 25.5 percent of support statewide.
Whoever wins that race will face Stacey Abrams, who won 76 percent of support from Georgia democrats compared to the 23.5 percent of the vote that Stacey Evans garnered. All the statewide results were as of early morning of May 23.
The GOP ticket will also see a run-off between David Schafer and Geoff Duncan. Shafer got close to the needed 50 percent plus 1 vote margin of victory he needed to win outright, but came short with 99 percent of the vote in overnight and will still face Geoff Duncan, who got more than 25 percent of the vote statewide.
Whoever wins that race this summer will face Sarah Riggs Amico in November, who won the Democratic race 55.25 percent to 44.75 percent over Triana James.
A GOP run-off will also be needed between Brad Raffensperge rand David Bell Isle for Secretary of State. The winner between the pair will face John Barrow as the democratic candidate on the November ballot.
Back in November
Polk County’s election season isn’t quite over yet. A number of uncontested seats for the general election will technically still be on the ballot later this year, but there will at least be one local seat with a challenger ahead.
District 2 Commissioner and chair Jennifer Hulsey is headed into a general election challenge after facing no one in the GOP primary last Tuesday. Ricky Clark, who has previously run as a Republican will this time be featured on the Democratic ticket since he ran without opposition as well during Primary season.
The two will get a chance to let District 2 voters decide whether Hulsey will continue on as incumbent, or whether they want Clark to take over the seat.
Additionally, a special election will be held later this year as well to determine the seat that is coming open after Commissioner Hal Floyd ran unopposed in the primary for the seat held by Marshelle Thaxton.
Floyd’s current seat will then be open to fill the rest of the term that started in 2017 after former Commissioner Stefanie Drake Burford won the seat again in 2016. There is still two years left on the term at the start of 2019.
Qualifying for that seat is expected in late August, with the seat to appear on the ballot in the fall midterms.
Those will be the only two local seats up for the general election ballot this coming campaign season.