Both Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Patrick Davenport and a challenger, teacher Audrey Hughes, signed up to run for the District 1 seat on Tuesday, the second day of qualifying.
Davenport is one of several commissioners whose district is dramatically changed by Republicans’ new district map, with about half of the district around Winterville moving into District 3 and about half of District 8 becoming part of District 1. Davenport has been endorsed by District 8 Commissioner Carol Myers.
In the all-new District 3, where incumbent Melissa Link can’t run again because she was drawn out, business owner Tiffany S. Taylor signed up to run.
As expected, Dexter Fisher and former commissioner Jared Bailey qualified to run in District 5, where incumbent Tim Denson was also drawn out. Denson has opted to run for school board.
Mykeisha R. Ross, a community outreach liason for District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez, joined a five-person race for mayor.
In school board races, artist Heidi Hensley qualified to run in District 1, where incumbent Greg Davis is not seeking a second term. Piedmont College education professor Mark Evans joined the race for District 9. And board president LaKeisha Gantt will run for re-election in District 7.
In state races, general contractor Charlie Chase of Winder qualified to run in the Republican primary against Sen. Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville), who represents part of Athens. Reps. Houston Gaines (R-Athens) and Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville) both qualified to run for re-election Tuesday. So did Rep. Trey Rhodes (R-Greensboro), whose district will include part of Athens due to redistrict. He’ll face Democrat Kat Howkins, a farmer.
The qualifying period runs through noon Friday. Including Monday, here’s who has qualified so far. Party affiliation is only given for partisan races, and an asterisk indicates an incumbent.
Athens-Clarke County Mayor: Kelly Girtz*, Pearl Hall, Fred Moorman, Mykeisha R. Ross, Mara Zuniga
Commissioner District 1: Patrick Davenport*, Audrey Hughes
Commission District 3: Tiffany S. Taylor
Commission District 5: Jared Bailey, Dexter Fisher
Commission District 7: Allen Jones, John Culpepper
Commission District 9: Ovita Thornton*
BOE District 1: Heidi Hensley
BOE District 3: none
BOE District 5: Tim Denson
BOE District 7: LaKeisha Gantt*
BOE District 9: Elder Johnson IV, Mark Evans
Solicitor General: none
State Senate District 46: Bill Cowsert (R)*
State Senate District 47: Frank Ginn (R)*, Charlie Chase (R)
State House District 120: Houston Gaines (R)*, Mokah Jasmine Johnson (D)
State House District 121: Marcus Wiedower (R)*
State House District 122: none
State House District 124: Trey Rhodes (R)*, Kat Howkins (D)
10th Congressional District: Timothy Barr (R), Paul Broun (R), David Curry (R), Vernon Jones (R), Mark McCain (R), Mitchell Swann (R), Phyllis Hatcher (D)
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