Runoff coming soon for state seats
Accuracy testing was set to be completed on Monday morning after press time by the Polk County Board of Elections for another round of voting as run-off elections are set for Tuesday, December 4.
Ballots are being cast soon in a forthcoming race between Republican Brad Raffensperger and Democrat John Barrow in the continued race on who will in 2019 be the new Secretary of State for Georgia after Brian Kemp resigned earlier in the month to start the transition to being the new Governor.
That came only after court wrangling from Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams over ballots in Gwinnett County, and a concession before the Thanksgiving holiday. Now interim Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden holds the job, and she’ll remain through the end of the year after the election decides who takes over the position.
Georgia Public Service Commission’s District 3 race also was close, with no candidates getting 50 percent plus one to win. Incumbent Republican Chuck Eaton will face Democratic challenger Lindy Miller in the Dec. 4 race as well.
No local questions are on this ballot, and those who want to return to vote will need to contact the Polk County Board of Elections for more starting on Monday at 770-749-2103 to learn more about voting in the forthcoming race.
Besides the statewide race and the regional one for Public Service Commission, the only other election news happening in the region surrounds the race over who will take over the county lines in Floyd and Bartow.
Four candidates qualified by the deadline last week on Nov. 21 to seek the state House District 14 seat vacated by Christian Coomer.
A special election is scheduled for Dec. 18. On the ballot are:
Ken Coomer, an Adairsville pastor and the father of Christian Coomer;
Mitchell Scoggins, a retired Bartow County probate court judge;
Nickie Leighly, a small business owner in Bartow County with seven young children; and
Nathan Wilson, owner of Wilson Contracting Co. in Cartersville.
The district covers the southeast corner of Floyd County and the northern half of Bartow, with about two-thirds of the voters living in Bartow.
All four candidates qualified as Republicans.
Voters in the district must have registered by Nov. 27 in order to vote in the special election, which is aimed at trying to fill the seat before the Georgia General Assembly session starts at 10 a.m. on Jan. 14.
A candidate must pull more than 50 percent of the vote to win outright. If a run-off is necessary, it will be held Jan. 15.
Christian Coomer, a Republican, was unopposed for re-election but withdrew his name Oct. 31 when he was sworn in by Gov. Nathan Deal as a judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals. It was too late to change the ballots for the Nov. 6 general election but votes for him were not counted.
The upcoming election is billed as a special Republican primary. Robert Brady, chief elections clerk for Floyd County, said state law requires a new primary since the single candidate did not make it to the general election.
Any registered voter in the district will be able to participate even if they didn’t vote in the earlier primary. Georgians don’t register by party, so those who chose a Democratic ballot in May are also free to vote in the upcoming Republican contest.