While the presidential race will consume the most attention over the next nine months, local elections are right around the corner, with candidate qualifying taking place Mar. 4–8. But already, races are getting underway.
Sheriff John Q. Williams kicked off his re-election campaign Jan. 27 in Winterville, announcing that the sheriff’s department is partnering with state Rep. Spencer Frye and Habitat for Humanity on a program that will teach jail inmates to manufacture modules for tiny houses. Those homes could house the homeless, or released inmates who’ve lost their housing while incarcerated could use them, Williams said.
During his first term as sheriff, Williams said that he has hired more female deputies—they are now almost 50% of the force—cracked down on fentanyl at the jail, hired a grant writer to bring in more funding and equipment, and placed an emphasis on community outreach. “Athens is my home, and no one cares more about making Athens safe and prosperous than I do,” he said.
But Williams said there is still work left to be done, such as building a new judicial center to replace the overcrowded county courthouse, raising deputy pay and improving relationships among law enforcement agencies.
Williams has one announced opponent: Tommy Dorsey, a police officer with the Clarke County School District. Williams is a Democrat, but it’s unclear whether Dorsey will run in the May Democratic primary or as a Republican or independent in November.
One candidate for district attorney, Kalki Yalamanchili, has said that he will run against incumbent Deborah Gonzalez as an independent, requiring him to gather thousands of signatures to get on the November ballot.
Meanwhile, Gonzalez held a fundraiser Jan. 28 headlined by state Sen. Jason Estevez (D-Atlanta), former state Rep. Jonathan Wallace and former school board member Tawana Mattox, among others. Hosts were asked to donate $1,000 apiece.
While courthouse positions like DA and sheriff are partisan, school board and county commission races are not, and so they will be decided in May rather than November under a state law that requires nonpartisan races to be held in conjunction with partisan primaries. Up for grabs this year are commission districts 2 (currently held by Melissa Link), 4 (Allison Wright), 6 (Jesse Houle), 8 (Carol Myers) and 10 (Mike Hamby), and school board districts 2 (Claudia Butts), 4 (Patricia Yager), 6 (Mumbi Anderson) and 8 (Nicole Hull).
During a Jan. 22 meeting on the Georgia Square Mall redevelopment, local restaurateur Rashe Malcolm announced that she will be resigning from the TAD committee to run for the county commission’s District 6 seat, currently held by Jesse Houle, who has said they are unlikely to run for re-election. Malcolm owns Rashe’s Cuisine, a Jamaican restaurant and catering business in East Athens, as well as the food insecurity nonprofit Farm to Neighborhood and the Culinary Kitchen of Athens, a commercial kitchen for startup entrepreneurs.
But that’s not all: All six of Athens’ state legislators—Sens. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) and Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville), and Reps. Houston Gaines (R-Athens), Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville), Trey Rhodes (R-Greensboro) and Frye (D-Athens)—are up for re-election. So is 10th Congressional District Rep. Mike Collins, a Butts County Republican. All of those seats are considered safe for the incumbents and their respective parties, but that has not stopped Democrats from running. One 10th District Democrat, Lexy Doherty, kicked off her campaign in Winder Jan. 27.
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