In the district where carpet is king, a carpet man appears to be headed to the state Senate.
Republican Charlie Bethel, a human resources manager at commercial carpet producer J&J Industries, led Gordon County builder Steve Brannon 6,753 votes to 4,831 votes Tuesday night with 88 percent of precincts reporting. They were running in the GOP primary to fill the seat vacated by Dr. Don Thomas’ retirement.
Without any Democratic opposition, the Republican winner has a clear path to the District 54 seat in the Nov. 2 general election.
“I’m truly humbled to have the trust and confidence of so many people in my home community and I’ll work hard to earn it,” Mr. Bethel said Tuesday night.
Mr. Bethel, 34, is a former Dalton city councilman and served as the city’s liaison for the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission.
Initially, Mr. Bethel said he planned to run against Roger Williams for a seat in the state House of Representatives, but changed his mind when Dr. Thomas announced he was resigning.
If elected, Mr. Bethel said he would head to Atlanta to represent local residents, not the carpet companies, but he said his familiarity with the industry can’t hurt.
“Certainly the things that matter to that industry matter to the people of this area,” he said. “But it’s still people first.”
Elsewhere around the region, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, incumbent Sen. Jeff Mullis breezed passed his opponents with 5,857 votes in the race for the 53rd Senate District. Opponent Jeremy Jones had 1,369 votes while Jim Pope had 1,348.
“We’ll be working with whoever is the governor to again help the people of Northwest Georgia,” said Sen. Mullis, whose district includes Dade, Walker, Chattooga and part of Catoosa County.
In the state House, incumbent Roger Williams was leading challenger Dennis Mock by a much narrower margin. Rep. Williams, 76, who mulled over the idea of retiring earlier this year, led with 1,886 votes to Mr. Mock’s 1,726 after 66 percent of precincts had reported.
Next door in District 6, incumbent Tom Dickson, of Cohutta, appeared headed for a tight win with 81 percent of precincts reporting. He was narrowly leading Mike Cowan 1,803 votes to 1,729.
In House District 3, Rep. Tom Weldon, a Ringgold attorney, defeated small business owner Tom Dooley by 2,208 votes to 1,420 with 86 percent of precincts reporting.
“We’ve got experience under our belts and we’re looking forward to using it help Catoosa and Whitfield counties,” Mr. Weldon said late Tuesday.
Neither Sen. Mullis, Rep. Williams nor Rep. Weldon face any Democratic opposition in the general election. Rep. Dickson will square off against uncontested Democrat Tommy Patterson.
In other area Republican primaries Reps. Jay Neal, Martin Scott, John Meadows and David Ralston were unopposed.
On the Democratic side, incumbent Rep. Barbara Massey Reece was unopposed as were challengers Mike Burton in the 52nd Senate District and Jerry Nally in House District 12.