Key contested races in area Georgia primaries
U.S. Representative, District 14 Allan Levene (R) Mickey Tuck (R) Tom Graves (incumbent) (R) State Senator, District 53 Jeff Mullis (incumbent) (R) Lanny Thomas (R) State Senator, District 54 Charlie Bethel (incumbent) (R) Conda Lowery-Goodson (R) State Representative, District 3 Dewayne Hill (R) Jeff Holcomb (R) Jeremy Jones (R) State Representative, District 4 Bruce Broadrick (incumbent) (R) Kasey Carpenter (R) State Representative, District 6 Jason T. Ridley (R) Sarah Fields (R) Tom Dickson (incumbent) (R) Conasauga Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Catrina Celeste Creswell Barry Scott Minter Steve Farrow Catoosa County Sheriff Ben Scott (R) Gary Sisk (incumbent) (R) Dade County Commission Chair Ted Rumley Sr. (incumbent) (R) Cliff Auman (R) Wes Hixon (R) Dade County Sheriff Danny Ellis (R) Ray Cross (incumbent) (R) Walker County sole commissioner Mike Peardon (R) Shannon Whitfield (R)
Time is running out for Georgia residents to vote early in this month's primary elections, but hundreds have already cast their ballots in a variety of races.
Several well-known candidates, including Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, face challengers in the May 24 primary, but voters will also decide several local issues, such as the future of Gordon Lee High School.
Early voting in Georgia has been open since May 2 and many election officials are pleased with the turnout they've already seen, but they also note that their offices haven't been as busy as they were a few months ago during the presidential primary.
"It's been kind of quiet so far," said Chuck Fletcher, an administrative assistant in the Walker County elections office. "We had the presidential primary a few months ago and it got a little busier toward the end there.
On Friday, Fletcher said their office has received 369 ballots so far and that number is expected to rise significantly in the last week of early voting, especially since several more offices opened over the weekend. Walker County voters are now able to cast their ballots in Rock Spring, Rossville, Chickamauga and Fairyland.
In addition to the race between Mullis and his challenger, Lanny Thomas, Walker County voters will also decide the Republican candidate for the county's sole commissioner seat.
The 15-year incumbent, Bebe Heiskell, will be running as an independent after winning the previous four elections as a Republican. The coming primary will determine whether her Republican opponent will be Mike Peardon or Shannon Whitfield - the two candidates bucking to unseat her.
Chattooga County is reporting a slightly higher early voter turnout than Walker County with a total of 421 ballots so far, but Catoosa has significantly more with 1,186. Officials could not be reached in Dade County on Friday to determine totals there.
Tonya Moore, director of elections and voter registration for Catoosa said, "It's been steady. Usually the third week, the last week of early voting is our busiest."
Early voter turnout isn't always the best indicator of total expected turnout because a large number of voters wait until the last day possible to cast their ballot for a number of reasons.
"A lot of people like going the day of just to socialize or meet and greet," said Fletcher.
Early voting will continue this week during normal election office hours except for May 23, the day before the primary. Offices will be closed to voters statewide that Monday.
Aside from the elections for public office, Chickamauga voters have another important decision lying before them on May 24 - whether to move forward with $2.5 million in general obligation bonds to pay for the construction of a new high school.
The state has already agreed to put up the majority of the funding necessary for what Chickamauga superintendent Melody Day estimates would be a $15 million project to replace the 86-year-old Gordon Lee High School building.
Day said the building is, "Absolutely gorgeous, even at 86, but it has terrific infrastructure problems."
She said the state's offer of several million dollars toward a new building is a golden opportunity and the $2.5 million bond would only be used to pay for demolition, the abatement of asbestos in the current building and a few paving projects that the state cannot and will not pay for.
According to her, the debt would be paid down over several years from money that is already coming in through two separate foundations that contribute money to the school system. She says they have the money for a new school in hand and hopes that they can move toward building a new school with this huge financial help.
"Any time you can get millions of dollars interest free, you have to look at that."
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.