Statewide Election Set For 2018
Candidates let their money do the talking last week as officials signed up to run in Georgia’s statewide elections for 2018.
The primary is set for May 22. It should be noted there will also be local elections this year but this column is focusing just on statewide contests.
As we mentioned last week the big prize is the governor’s mansion. Seven Republicans and two Democrats officially qualified last week although the main race will be to see who wins the GOP primary.
Current Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, former state senator Hunter Hill, current Secretary of State Brian Kemp, state senator Michael Williams, business consultant Clay Tippens, conservative activities Marc Urbach and businessman Eddie Hayes will be on the Republican ballot.
Former state house minority leader Stacey Abrams and former state representative Stacey Evans will have a challenge reminding Democratic voters who is who when they vote. For two candidates who are relatively unknown statewide, having the same first name with the same spelling is unfortunate.
Cagle and Kemp are two of the early favorites on the GOP side simply because they have been elected to statewide office before. However, don’t overlook the campaign of Hill, who has already gained strong support.
In the race for Lt. Governor (to replace Cagle), former state representative and former professional baseball player Geoff Duncan, state senator Rick Jeffares and state senator David Shafer are running as Republicans. Businesswoman Sarah Riggs Amico and businesswoman and veteran Triana Arnold James qualified as Democrats.
The race for Secretary of State (which is open with Kemp running for Governor) is crowded. Four Republicans qualified including former Alpharetta mayor David Belle Isle, state representative Buzz Brockway, state representative Josh McKoon and state representative Brad Raffensperger.
Former congressman John Barrow, former state representative Dee Dawkins-Haigler and Rockdale County tax commissioner R.J. Hadley are seeking to become the new Secretary of State as Democrats.
Current Republican attorney general Chris Carr drew a Democratic challenger in Charlie Bailey.
State school superintendent Richard Woods will have two primary challengers in John Barge (who previously held the office before stepping down for an unsuccessful run for governor) and educational consultant Sonia Francis-Rolle.
Sid Chapman, Sam Mosteller and Otha Thornton are running for state school superintendent as Democrats.
Republican Gary Black will face Democrat Fred Swann and Libertarian Stephanie Grandie in the race for agriculture commissioner.
Current state insurance commissioner Ralph Hudgens, after facing a good bit of criticism concerning his time in office, is not seeking re-election. Hoschton city council member Tracy Jordan, former deputy insurance commissioner Jim Beck and current deputy insurance commissioner Jay Florence are running as Republicans while insurance agency owner Janice Laws and consumer health care advocate Cindy Zeldin qualified as Democrats.
State labor commissioner Mark Butler will face one of two Democrats in November. Richard Keatley, a college professor, and Fred Quinn, a financial manager analyst are seeking the Democrat nomination.
The deadline to register to vote (if you are not already) for this year’s primary is April 24.
Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.