ESPLOST passes; Gurtler re-elected to District 8 House seat
Incumbents Hunter and Potts win re-election bids

By Shawn Jarrard

The May 22 General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election is over, and Union County voters have spoken – the ESPLOST has passed.

This is the fifth consecutive time Union County voters have approved the ESPLOST, and the referendum won the day with 69.65 percent of the vote. All told, 3,753 people voted for it and 1,635 people voted against it.

The countywide sales tax will remain at 7 cents on the dollar when ESPLOST IV collections end June 30 and ESPLOST V collections begin July 1.

ESPLOST is a 1-cent sales tax collected by schools for the purposes of building new facilities, renovating existing facilities, upgrading HVAC systems, adding to aging bus fleets, updating technology and more.

The tax features a $21 million collection cap over the next five years.

In the May 22 Republican Primary, Incumbent Matt Gurtler defeated challenger Mickey Cummings to win re-election in the Georgia House of Representatives District 8 race.

“I want to say thank you to the voters from the bottom of my heart,” said Rep. Gurtler on Election Night.

Regarding his mandate, Rep. Gurtler said that he’s ready to continue leading by example down in Atlanta.

“It’s clear, the people have spoken – they want a guy that’s going to go down there and be conservative and stand up for the people and not the establishment,” said Rep. Gurtler.

District 8 consists of Union, Towns and Rabun counties, as well as a portion of White County, and Gurtler won the district with 60.18 percent of the vote to Cummings’ 39.82 percent.

In Union, Towns, Rabun and White counties respectively, Gurtler received 54.32, 66.41, 62.75 and 71.36 percent of the vote for a total of 5,965 votes; and Cummings received 45.68, 33.59, 37.25 and 28.64 percent of the vote for a total of 3,947 votes.

As Gurtler has no Democratic opposition, he will be sworn in to office for his second term in 2019.

At the local level, three Union County Board of Education seats were on the line, though Incumbent Patrick White ran unopposed for District 5.

For County Board of Education District 2, Republican Incumbent Tony Hunter received 68.07 percent of the vote with 2,790 votes to defeat challenger Joan Anderson, who received 1,309 votes.

For County Board of Education District 4, Republican Incumbent Keith Potts won the contest with 64.44 percent of the vote, defeating William McQuillan’s 15.52 vote percentage and John T. Strickland’s 20.03 vote percentage.

No Democrats qualified to run against the Republican candidates for school board, which means that Hunter, Potts and White are all set to be sworn in to office at the start of 2019.

In other race results, both locally and statewide:

For Governor, Republican: Locally, Casey Cagle received 46.28 percent of the vote, Hunter Hill 11.08 percent, Brian Kemp 25.08 percent, Clay Tippins 9.12 percent and Michael Williams 8.45 percent.

In order to win a nomination, a candidate must receive a majority of the vote, meaning 50 percent plus one. If no candidate receives this majority, the top two vote earners square off in a runoff election.

Statewide, Cagle received the most votes with 39.01 percent of the vote, and Kemp came in second with 25.55 percent.

As the top two vote earners in their race, Cagle and Kemp will face one another in a July 24 Special Election Runoff to see who will emerge as the Republican nominee ahead of the Nov. 6 General Election.

For Governor, Democrat: Locally, Stacey Abrams received 55.59 percent of the vote and Stacey Evans 44.41 percent. Statewide, Abrams won the Democratic nomination with 76.44 percent of the vote.

For Lieutenant Governor, Republican: Locally, Geoff Duncan received 28.12 percent of the vote, Rick Jeffares 27.27 percent and David Shafer 44.61 percent.

Statewide, Shafer received 48.91 percent of the vote to Duncan’s 26.65 percent. As the top two vote earners, Shafer and Duncan will square off in the July 24 runoff election.

For Lieutenant Governor, Democrat: Locally, Sarah Riggs Amico received 82.21 percent of the vote and Triana Arnold James 17.79 percent. Statewide, Amico won the Democratic nomination with 55.28 percent of the vote.

For Secretary of State, Republican: Locally, David Belle Isle received 26.84 percent of the vote, Buzz Brockway 18.97 percent, Josh McKoon 14.05 percent and Brad Raffensperger 40.15 percent. Statewide, Raffensperger received 34.97 percent of the vote to Belle Isle’s 28.53 percent. The two will square off in the July 24 runoff.

For Secretary of State, Democrat: Locally, Josh Barrow received 53.78 percent of the vote, Dee Dawkins-Haigler 33.63 percent and Rakeim “RJ” Hadley 12.59 percent. Statewide, Barrow won the Democratic nomination with 51.52 percent of the vote.

For Attorney General, Republican Incumbent Chris Carr and Democrat Charlie Bailey both ran unopposed in their primaries, and they will face each other in November.

For Commissioner of Agriculture, Republican Incumbent Gary Black and Democrat Fred Swann also ran unopposed in their primaries, and they will face each other in November.

For Commissioner of Insurance, Republican: Locally, Jim Beck received 62.55 percent of the vote, Jay Florence 18.53 percent and Tracy Jordan 18.92 percent. Statewide, Beck won the Republican nomination with 59.69 percent of the vote.

For Commissioner of Insurance, Democrat: Locally, Janice Laws received 45.67 percent of the vote and Cindy Zeldin 54.33 percent. Statewide, Laws won the Democratic nomination with 62.84 percent of the vote.

For State School Superintendent, Republican: Locally, Incumbent Richard Woods received 63.37 percent of the vote and John Barge 36.63 percent. Statewide, Woods won the Republican nomination with 60.12 percent of the vote.

For State School Superintendent, Democrat: Locally, Sid Chapman received 43.81 percent of the vote, Sam Mosteller 31.27 percent and Otha E. Thornton Jr. 24.92 percent. Statewide, Thornton received 43.86 percent of the vote to Chapman’s 36.48. The two will square off in the July 24 runoff.

For Commissioner of Labor, Republican Incumbent Mark Butler ran unopposed in the primary and will face Democratic challenger Richard Keatley in November.

For Commissioner of Labor, Democrat: Locally, Richard Keatley received 57.07 percent of the vote and Fred Quinn 42.93 percent. Statewide, Keatley won the Democratic nomination with 51.53 percent of the vote.

For Public Service Commissioner District 3, Republican Incumbent Chuck Eaton ran unopposed in the primary and will face Democratic challenger Lindy Miller in November.

For Public Service Commissioner District 3, Democrat: Locally, Lindy Miller received 72.18 percent of the vote, John Noel 17.31 percent and Johnny C. White 10.51 percent. Statewide, Miller won the Democratic nomination with 65.46 percent of the vote

For Public Service Commissioner District 5, Republican: Locally, Incumbent Tricia Pridemore received 56.29 percent of the vote and John Hitchins III 43.71 percent. Statewide, Pridemore won the Republican nomination with 53.04 percent of the vote.

For Public Service Commissioner District 5, Democrat: Locally, Dawn A. Randolph received 74.73 percent of the vote and Doug Stoner 25.27 percent. Statewide, Randolph won the Democratic nomination with 78.59 percent of the vote.

For U.S. Representative in the 116th Congress from the 9th Congressional District of Georgia, Republican Incumbent Doug Collins ran unopposed in the primary and will face Democratic challenger Josh McCall in November.

For U.S. Representative in the 116th Congress from the 9th Congressional District of Georgia, Democrat: Locally, Dave Cooper received 50.91 percent of the vote and Josh McCall 49.09 percent. Statewide, McCall won the nomination with 52.71 percent of the vote.

For State Senator from the 51st District, Republican Incumbent Steve Gooch is running unopposed and will serve another term in office.

For District Attorney of the Enotah Judicial Circuit, Republican Incumbent Jeff Langley is running unopposed and will serve another term in office.

On the Nonpartisan General Election Ballot, John Ellington and incumbents Michael P. Boggs, Britt Cagle Grant, Harold D. Melton and Nels Peterson all ran unopposed for Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia, and are set to be sworn in.

Incumbents Charlie Bethel, Stephen Dillard, Amanda H. Mercier, M. Yvette Miller, Clyde L. Reese III and Brian Rickman all ran unopposed for Judge, Court of Appeals Georgia, and are set to be sworn in.

For Judge, Court of Appeals Georgia: Locally, Ken Hodges received 66.06 percent of the vote and Ken Shigley 33.94 percent. Statewide, Hodges won the election with 69.93 percent of the vote.

Raymond E. George and N. Stanley Gunter both ran unopposed for Judge, Superior Court of the Enotah Judicial Circuit, and are set to be sworn in.