Two incumbent school board members won their races easily Tuesday in the May 19, 2026, Closed Primary. The other contested elections on the ballot were either multi-county state or federal elections, with a few statewide races thrown in as well.
District 2 school board member Jesse Jowers defeated challenger Richard Denning Jr. 955-218. District 4 school board member Bryan Preston overcame a challenge from Dr. Anthony Davis, winning 827-299. In District 1, incumbent Leola Johnson chose not to run. Tabitha Paulk ran for that seat without any opposition and will become the District 1 representative in January.
Local Republican voters also cast ballots in two contested state races that include sections of Coffee County. The Georgia House of Representatives District 176 seat was on the ballot; the district includes a sliver of southern Coffee County but is primarily a Ware County district. Incumbent James Burchette, a Waycross attorney, defeated challenger Michael Dockery, a Coffee County native who lives in Ware County, 564-314. Throughout the district, Rep. Burchette defeated Dockery 4,554 to 972.
The State Senate District 19 seat was also up for grabs. Incumbent Blake Tillery chose not to run in order to seek the office of lieutenant governor. Three Republican candidates and two Democratic candidates threw their hats in the ring for that post. The district is a large one but includes the eastern portion of Coffee County.
In that race, Toombs County’s David Sikes garnered 12,737 votes. Dwayne Gillis, former Superior Court Judge and a Coffee County resident, received 7,715 votes. Travis Hodges, another Toombs County candidate, finished third with 1,866 votes. Sikes received 57 percent of the vote, meaning a run-off will not be necessary. Gillis won two counties – Coffee (1,414-291-48) and Bacon (1,040-496-95).
On the Democratic side, Joshua C. Wilkerson defeated Eddy Delgado 610-164 locally. Districtwide, Wilkerson won 4,286 to 2,120.
Here are the results for selected statewide races. The vote totals are those of the entire state.
- U.S. Senate (Republican): Run-off between Mike Collins (365,397) and Derek Dooley (272,416). The winner will face incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff in November.
- Governor (Republican): Run-off between Burt Jones (354,087) and Rick Jackson (300,714).
- Governor (Democrat): Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated six challengers and garnered 599,039 votes – over 56 percent – and advances to November without a run-off.
- Lieutenant governor (Republican): Run-off between John F. Kennedy (240,067) and Greg Dolezal (203,151). Blake Tillery, a Toombs County native who is the sitting District 19 state senator, finished third.
- Lieutenant governor (Democrat): Run-off between Josh McLaurin (420,630) and Nabilah Parkes (400,914).
- Secretary of State (Republican): Run-off between Tim Fleming (330,412) and Vernon Jones (230,233).
- Secretary of State (Democrat): Run-off between Penny Brown Reynolds (429,022) and Dana Barrett (356,924).
- Commissioner of Agriculture (Democrat): Katherine E. Juhan-Arnold defeated Sedrick Kent Rowe Jr. 619,412-377,963 and will face incumbent Republican Tyler Harper in November.
- State School Superintendent (Republican): Run-off between incumbent Richard Woods (424,370) and Fred “Bubba” Longgear (247,615).
- State School Superintendent (Democrat): Lydia Powell (504,890) defeated Anton Anthony (297,289) and Otha Thornton (197,378) without a run-off.