Barnett wins school board seat in sole contested local race
Voter turnout up 10 percent from May 2018 General Primary

By Shawn Jarrard

The June 9 Presidential Preference, General Primary, and Nonpartisan General Elections are over, and the sole locally contested race has gone to Julia Barnett for school board.
Two Union County Board of Education seats were up for grabs in 2020, though Incumbent Janna Akins ran unopposed for County Board of Education District 1.
For County Board of Education District 3, Republican: Barnett received 62.5 percent of the vote with 3,543 votes to defeat Dale Spivey, who received 2,130 votes.
No Democrats qualified to run for school board, so Barnett will head into the General Election unchallenged.
The eight other local offices up for election featured incumbents who ran unopposed: Sole Commissioner Lamar Paris, Sheriff Mack Mason, Tax Commissioner Lee Knight, Superior Court Clerk Judy Odom, Surveyor Jason Henson, Coroner Benny Erwin, Probate Judge Dwain Brackett and Magistrate Judge Cary Cox.
Brackett and Cox won their nonpartisan elections unopposed and will be sworn back into office in 2021.
Paris, Mason, Knight, Odom, Henson, Erwin, Akins and Barnett are each heading into the Nov. 3 General Election without a party challenger.
So, unless Independent and/or Political Body (i.e. Libertarian Party) candidates qualify for the November election via petition nomination or write-in candidacy later this summer, the currently unchallenged party nominees will be sworn into office in 2021.
For Georgia House of Representatives District 8, Stan Gunter defeated Steve Townsend to clench the Republican nomination.
District 8 consists of Towns, Union and Rabun counties, as well as a portion of White County, and Gunter won Union with 72.4 percent of the vote to Townsend’s 27.6 percent.
Dave Cooper ran unopposed for the District 8 seat on the Democratic ticket, and he will square off against Gunter in the Nov. 3 election. 
For 51st District State Senator, Republican Incumbent Steve Gooch qualified unopposed, and he will face off against Democratic challenger June Krise, who also qualified unopposed, in the November election.
For U.S. Representative in the 117th Congress from the 9th Congressional District of Georgia, at press time, Matt Gurtler was ahead by a small margin at 22.76 percent of the vote with 35.29 percent of precincts counted districtwide in the Republican race.
This contest is likely headed for a runoff, with the other candidates being Michael Boggus, Paul Broun, Andrew Clyde, Maria Strickland, Kevin Tanner, Ethan Underwood, Kellie Weeks, and John K. Wilkinson. 
On the Democratic ticket, Brooke Siskin was in the lead at press time with 43.24 percent of the vote, followed by Dan Wilson with 28.55 percent and Devin Pandy with 28.21 percent. 
For U.S. Senate, Incumbent David A. Perdue qualified unopposed and will be the Republican nominee in November. 
As far as a Democratic challenger, the race was too early to call at press time, though Jon Ossoff had a greater than 30-point lead over his nearest opponent with 38.17 percent of precincts counted. 
Sarah Riggs Amico, Marckeith DeJesus, James Knox, Tricia Carpenter McCracken, Maya Dillard Smith and Teresa Pike Tomlinson are also vying for this Democratic nomination. 
For Public Service Commissioner, Republican Incumbent Jason Shaw and Democrat Robert G. Bryant qualified unopposed and will face off in the November General Election.
Also for Public Service Commissioner, Republican Incumbent Lauren Bubba McDonald Jr. qualified unopposed. Daniel Blackman and John Noel were competing for the Democratic nomination, with Blackman in the lead at 71.01 percent of the vote with 38.46 percent of precincts reporting in. 
On the Nonpartisan General Election Ballot, two Georgia Supreme Court seats were up for election. At press time, Incumbent Charlie Bethel was leading Elizabeth “Beth” Beskin with 57.4 percent of the vote, and Incumbent Sarah Hawkins Warren was leading Hal Moroz with 79.26 percent of the vote.  
For Court of Appeals Judge, Incumbents Trenton “Trent” Brown III, Christian Coomer, Sara Doyle, Elizabeth Dallas Gobeil, David Todd Markle and Carla McMillian all ran unopposed and are set to be sworn in.
Incumbent Joy R. Parks ran unopposed for Judge, Superior Court of the Enotah Judicial Circuit, and she is set to be sworn in again.
Donald J. Trump won the Republican nomination in Georgia for the Presidential Preference Primary, and Joe Biden won on the Democratic side. 
Please see the June 17 edition of the newspaper for full election results, including the Republican and Democratic party questions that appeared on the June 9 General Primary ballot.