Over 4,000 local voters cast ballots in the 2022 primary election, deciding five local races and following state trends in the others.
Five local races — school board District 1, city commission Ward 6 special election, county commission District 3, the election for Broxton mayor, and the bid for one Broxton city council seat — were decided Tuesday night.
In the school board race, Leola Johnson, who was appointed to the seat after the death of Tonya Wilkerson in January, defeated challenger Michael Newton 500-323. Steve Bailey and Latorya Edwards squared off in the special election for the Ward 6 city commission seat, which was vacated after Bob Moore retired last year. Bailey defeated Edwards 327-74. Incumbent District 3 county commissioner AJ Dovers outlasted challenger Mike Kubek 693-232.
In Broxton, Helen Jones won the lone city council seat on the ballot. Jones received 95 votes while Ronnie Graham came in with 65. A third candidate, Charlie Riley, finished third with 37 votes. Broxton and Ambrose both had Sunday alcohol sales referendums on the ballot. Incumbent Broxton mayor Jimmy Day Littleton defeated Willie L. Jenkins Jr. 148-43. Voters approved Sunday sales in both communities — 35-26 in Ambrose and 109-84 in Broxton.
Two assistant district attorneys in the Waycross Judicial Circuit challenged each other for the District Attorney position in the six-county circuit. Marilyn Bennett of Pierce County won over Ian Sansot of Douglas 14,043 to 4,211. In Coffee County, Bennett won 2,240-1,697.
Republican incumbent Carden Summers of Cordele won Coffee and the district in the State Senate District 13 race. He defeated two other candidates and will go in without a runoff.
Here are the local results for a few notable national and state races: US Senate — Republican Herschel Walker won Coffee with 3,429 votes; Democrat Raphael Warnock won with 1,198 votes; Governor — Republican Bryan Kemp (2,527), Democrat Stacey Abrams (1,296); Lieutenant Governor — Republican Burt Jones (2,127), Democrat Tyrone Brooks Jr. (321); Secretary of State — Republican Brad Raffensperger (1,925), Michael Owens (380); Agriculture Commissioner — Democrat Winfred Dukes (467), Republican Tyler Harper (3,991), and School Superintendent — Republican Richard Woods (2,946), Democrat Alisha Thomas Searcy.
There are still precincts throughout the state that haven’t reported all of their election results as of Wednesday afternoon. Once all the votes are tallied, the Secretary of State’s office will announce which races are headed for runoffs. Several are expected but there is no official word yet.