Qualifying Begins Monday
Candidates seeking political offices in Jasper and elsewhere in Georgia begin qualifying next week, officially declaring their intentions to seek nomination in the July 20 party primaries and nonpartisan elections.
Beginning Monday, April 26, candidates for local offices may qualify with the Democratic Party at the Jasper County Library daily between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. through Thursday and from 10 a.m. until noon Friday.
Republican candidates may qualify at Room 116 in the Courthouse from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. until noon on Friday.
Locally five County Commission seats and the positions of clerk of courts, probate judge, sheriff and tax commissioner will be filled by candidates nominated in the primaries and elected on Nov. 2. The part-time posts of coroner and county surveyor also will be on the primary and general election ballots.
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Statewide, all seats in the General Assembly and a few other state offices are up for grabs, and a number of judicial posts will be filled in nonpartisan elections.
Even before qualifying opens, a contested race is emerging in County Commission District Three, where incumbent Jerry Crow is being challenged in the Republican primary by Jack Bernard and Jerry Lazar.
Commissioners Russell Bennett and Greg Wyatt in Districts Four and Five, respectively, will have opposition if they seek re-election. Neither had announced his intention at press time. Announced candidates for those posts are Greg Johnson and Bob Yarbrough who will seek the Republican nominations for Districts Four and Five.
Carl Pennamon and Charles Hill, veteran commissioners who represent districts One and Two, respectively, had not announced their intentions regarding re-election this week, and no candidates had formally announced for those positions.
The districts were altered somewhat because of the 2000 census; thus some residents will be voting in districts different from those of previous elections.
Incumbents in all the county’s full-time constitutional offices have announced that they will seek reelection. They are Dan Jordan, clerk of courts; Kathy Tyler, probate judge; Charles Roper, sheriff, and Merry Faulkner, tax commissioner. There were no other announced candidates for those jobs at this issue’s press time.
The legislature districts have been jumbled from their previous alignment by a court action that moved Jasper into the district currently represented by Sen. Faye Smith of Milledgeville.
Jasper had previously been in Sen. Smith’s district, but was moved out when the legislature drew new maps after the census. But a federal court overturned the legislature’s plan, so Sen. Smith will again represent Jasper if she is re-elected. No candidate has announced for that seat with this newspaper.
Veteran state Rep. Curtis Jenkins of Forsyth continues to represent Jasper under the district realignment that put all of Jasper in what will be the 125th House District, and is expected to seek re-election on the Democratic ticket. Jim Cole, also of Forsyth, is seeking the Republican nomination for that seat. Carol Bird who also announced that she would seek the Republican nomination resides outside the new boundary and may seek a legislative seat in another district.
A number of judicial posts will be filled on the nonpartisan ballot that will be available to all voters in the July primaries. Jasper County Chief Magistrate Ken Jackson said this week he plans to seek re-election.
Superior Court judges serving Jasper County in the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit will also face re-election. Georgia has open primaries, meaning any voter may vote in whichever primary he or she chooses.
