Qualifying Ends For Municipalities
The official ballots were determined this past week as many municipalities throughout Wheeler, Montgomery, and Toombs Counties completed their election qualifying.
After qualifying ended Friday at noon for city council elections in Wheeler County’s two municipalities — Glenwood and Alamo — it appears there are fewer decisions to be made in the November 7 balloting.
In the City of Alamo, Mayor Pam Lee and three incumbent Council members, Dondrea Geter, Laura Brownley, and Steve Jones, who were all up for reelection to the at-large posts, have no opposition. Also, because only one person qualified to fill the empty seat of Councontinued from page
cilman Harry Lewis, who resigned earlier this year, a special election for that seat will not be required. Geoffrey Villegas, a store manager at South Georgia Tools, will fill the post through the end of the term in 2025.
“So, there will not be an election in Alamo for the City Council,” Wheeler County Elections Supervisor Karen Mercer said Friday afternoon. However, City of Alamo voters will need to visit the polls to vote in a countywide referendum for a one cent sales tax referendum.
In Glenwood, it is a different story. For the first time in 40 years, businessman and long-time Mayor G.M. Joiner will have opposition as he tosses his hat into the political ring one more time. Ava Bess Jones, a teacher, is challenging Joiner for the post.
The five Glenwood City Council seats are also up for grabs and two newcomers are challenging four incumbents for the positions. One of the longtime Council members, Winston Powell, will not seek reelection.
Janaria Bryant, an assistant shift supervisor at Wheeler Correctional Facility, and Thomas Matthew Johnson, a lineman with Little Ocmulgee EMC, will be running against incumbents Cynthia Kinchen, Eric Walter Lee Pearce, Billy Thigpen, and Wesley Ray Yawn. The top five vote-getters will win the at-large posts.
Elections Supervisor Mercer said further information on the SPLOST referendum to be voted on in November is expected to be announced early in September. She reminded voters of upcoming key election dates: August 21, applica tion deadline for absentee ballots October 1, early vot ing begins and first day to submit absentee ballots October 21, Saturday
voting
October 27, last day to submit absentee ballots October 28, Saturday
voting
November 7, gener –
al/special election.
Montgomery County
Ailey, Mount Vernon, and Tarrytown will all have elections for their city council members and mayors within the municipalities.
For Ailey, there will be no election, as all candidates are unopposed in their respective races, as Post 5 Councilwoman Erica Harrison, Post 6 Councilwoman Mindy Thigpen, and Mayor James Mitchell Fulmer Jr. all qualified for reelection.
Mount Vernon has 3 candidates seeking 3 of the Council’s at-large seats, as newcomer Amber Conway takes on Incumbents Pete Horton, Jerry M. “Hoppy” Sikes, and Elizabeth Williams for the positions. Mayor Joey Fountain also qualified for reelection uncontested.
Qualifying continued for Tarrytown until the end of Tuesday, August 29, as the municipality struggled to find candidates for their City Council. Those qualified individuals will be revealed in the next edition of The Advance.
Toombs County
Two Vidalia City Councilmen are facing opposition, as incumbent Councilman At-Large Bob Dixon goes up against Elizabeth Harvill, and Ward 4 Councilman Loyd Mobley is contested by Connie Williams. Mayor Pro-Tem John Raymond Turner, who represents Ward 3, is unopposed in his efforts for reelection.
The Vidalia City Schools Board of Education also have three elections this upcoming November, as Ward 1 Board Member Andy Blount faces Belva R. Franklin, Ward 3 Board Member Bruce Asberry goes up against Brittany Black, and Board Member At-Large Julee Torrance is opposed by Gerriell Craig.
Lyons City Council has mostly uncontested races, as Ward 3 Councilman William Ivy Toole Jr. and Mayor Willis D. Ne-Smith are unopposed in their quest for reelection. Jency Jeffers and Drayton Oliver will face off for incumbent Ward 5 City Councilman Rick Hartley’s seat. Hartley announced over the summer that he would not be seeking reelection, and wished anyone who desired to run for the office good luck. Only the mayor of Santa Claus will be on the city’s municipal ballot, as Donita Brown qualified for reelection. Because of the lack of competition between candidates, no election is necessary.
