10 Seek Congressional Seat

Eight Republicans and two Democrats have already announced their intentions to seek the 10th Congressional seat in 2022.

The seat, which includes Jasper County, will be an open contest since Republican Jody Hice is running for Secretary of State. Candidates cannot run for more than one office.

Republicans who have announced their candidacy for 2022 include:

•Andrew Alvey, non-profit group program director and community activist

•Timothy Barr, state representative and building contractor

•Paul Broun, physician and former congressman

•Mike Collins, trucking company owner and 2014 candidate

•David Curry, former state revenue commissioner and former Henry County tax commissioner

•Mark McMain, magazine publisher and realtor

•Matt Richards, businessman

•Charles Rupert, retired bank fraud examiner

Tabitha Johnson-Green is running again as a Democrat after runs in 2018 and 2020. Johnson-Green, who is a retired nurse, was soundly defeated by Hice in both of those general elections.

Kimberly Reuter, a licensed professional counselor, is also seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2022 race.

Additional candidates are expected to announce their intentions to run for the open seat.

The seat is considered “Republican safe” by political experts due to the makeup of the district. Since winning a competitive primary in 2014, Hice has really not been challenged for the 10th Congressional seat. After a tough primary that year, he won the general election by a 33 percent margin in November 2014.

Collins, a native of nearby Jackson, won the GOP primary in 2014 but did not gain enough votes to win without a runoff. In the runoff, Hice emerged victorious.

Hice had two GOP primary challengers in 2018 but easily won that contest with 79 percent of the vote. The general election that year saw Hice win by a 63-37 percent margin.

The district covers a large geographic area including the counties of Baldwin, Barrow, Butts (partial), Clarke (partial), Columbia (partial), Glascock, Greene, Gwinnett (partial), Hancock, Henry (partial), Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Lincoln, McDuffie, Morgan, Newton (partial), Oconee, Oglethorpe, Putnam, Taliaffero, Walton, Warren, Washington and Wilkes.

The 2022 primary will be in June of next year. Official qualifying for office will be in March.