Georgia's June primary election decided most of the races on the ballot, but a few seats are still up for grabs on the Aug. 11 runoff date.
Three major county commission races were pushed to runoffs in Catoosa, Chattooga and Walker counties.
In Catoosa, Vanita Hullander is running as an anti-establishment candidate against incumbent Jim Cutler in District 3. Cutler is one of three commissioners who ran for re-election. Steve Henry and Jeff Long both won in their primary elections.
Cutler has boasted endorsements including those of Sheriff Gary Sisk, Catoosa County Schools Superintendent Denia Reese and Sen. Jeff Mullis.
Hullander has held dozens of positions on various boards in the Catoosa County community and served as the county coroner for six terms.
In the primary race for Chattooga County sole commissioner, two votes separated Blake Elsberry (1,595) and incumbent Jason Winters (1,593). The runoff between the two is expected to be a close race.
Elsberry is running a campaign focused on government transparency, fiscal responsibility and strong education in the community.
Winters was first elected in 2008 as a Democrat against incumbent Democrat Mike Dawson and went on to beat Republican Charles Black with more than 60% of the vote. Four years later, Winters beat Joe Reed in the Democratic primary by 245 votes and went on to win in the General Election with 63% of the vote.
In 2014, Winters switched political parties and ran as a Republican for his third term. He won 66% of the vote in 2014's Primary and 62% in the General Election.
Winters and his wife Abbey made national news when Abbey poured a soda on a reporter's head in a commission meeting. During a televised debate between Winters and Elsberry last week, Winters said he had no comment on the incident.
Elsberry also said he didn't want to comment on it but later said he regretted not condemning the situation in a video posted on his campaign Facebook page. He called the incident unprofessional and irresponsible.
The winner will eventually face Democrat Jimmy Holbrook in November.
For the brand-new Walker County Commission, Alan Painter and Robert Stultz will face off in a runoff for the District 4 seat. Painter's campaign slogan is "Public Service Over Politics." Stultz has said he has strong conservative values and is in support of limited government, free enterprise and limited taxation.
Democrats John McDonald, Tyrone Davis and Hakie Lyndel Shropshire will compete in November for districts 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
At the state level, former Rep. John Deffenbaugh and Mike Cameron are headed to a runoff in House District 1 after Deffenbaugh received 42% of the vote and Cameron got 37%.
Deffenbaugh, R-Lookout Mountain, was unseated by 24-year-old Colton Moore in Georgia's Republican primary, 2,184 votes to 1,858 in 2018. No Democrats ran in that race. As Moore announced he would run against Sen. Jeff Mullis in the Senate's 53rd District (a race he eventually lost), Deffenbaugh set his sights on his former seat.
District 1 includes Dade and Walker counties. Deffenbaugh served the district from 2013 to 2018.
Cameron, former chairman of the Walker County Republican Party, helped lead the ballot initiative to move Walker County from a sole commissioner form of government to a full, five-person commission.
Voters in Murray County will vote again for a new sheriff. In June, Jimmy Davenport received 43% of the vote, while Dekota Boiling got 23% of the vote.
Voters in Dade County will vote for a new school board member between Jayne Griffin and Brooke Wilson.
Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.