The May 24 general election/special primary election is right around the corner. Locally, there are several County Commission and Board of Education spots in the race. Qualifying officially closed on March 11.
Qualifiers for local races
In the Liberty County Commissioners races, District 1 incumbent Marion Stevens, Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Bryan Wolfe. In District 2, incumbent Justin Frasier, Democrat, faces Republican challenger Alex Shirah and Democrat Briana Divens.
Connie Thrift, representing District 3, is the unchallenged incumbent.
After announcing she would not be seeking re-election, Board of Education Chair Lily Baker will be replaced by either Richard Hayes or Verdell Jones. No one qualified for the District 4 seat being vacated by board member James Johns Sr.
Baker said Johns’ term isn’t over until Dec. 31, 2022, and they may place his vacant seat open for qualification again in time for the November election cycle.
In District 5, Courtney Hernandez is challenging incumbent Chante’ Baker-Martin. Robert Freeman is challenging incumbent Donita Strickland for District 6.
In Long County, Republican Commissioner John Boy Reddish is being challenged by Democrat Jerry Young for District 2.
There is no incumbent running for District 3, where the race is between Regina Gray, Democrat, and James E. Craft, Republican.
In District 5, incumbent Robert Parker is being challenged by Lacey Hines and Steven Gordon.
Qualifiers at the state level
In District 168, which includes Liberty County, Democratic state Rep. Al Williams is being challenged by Democrat Micah Smith.
District 1 Rep. Buddy Carter, the Republican incumbent, is being challenged by three Democrats — Joyce Griggs, Wade Herring and Michelle Munroe — at the federal level.
Other notable races
In the Georgia U.S. Senate race, incumbent Raphael Warnock is being challenged by Republicans Gary Black, Josh Clark, Kelvin King, Jonathan McColumn, Hershel Walker and Latham Saddler and Democrat Tamara Johnson-Shealy.
In the governor’s race, Democrat Stacey Abrahams will once again go up against Republican incumbent Brian Kemp. Kemp also faces primary challenges from Republicans David Purdue, Catherine Davis, Tom Williams and Kandiss Taylor. It is a wide-open race for the lieutenant governor’s office, as incumbent Geoff Duncan announced Monday that he is not seeking re-election.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is facing an onslaught of challengers from both sides of the political spectrum. Attorney General Chris Carr is being challenged by Republican business owner John Gordon, Democrats Jennifer Jordan and Christian Wise-Smith, and Libertarian Martin Cowen.