Four incumbent Athens-Clarke County commissioners—Melissa Link in District 2, Allison Wright in District 4, Carol Myers in District 8 and Mike Hamby in District 10—signed up to run again as the week-long candidate qualifying period started on Monday.
Two candidates qualified in District 6: restaurant and nonprofit owner Rashe Malcolm and Stephanie Johnson, a former ACC auditor who was fired in 2021 and now lists her occupation as consultant. Incumbent Jesse Houle is unlikely to run for re-election.
District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez qualified to run for re-election as a Democrat. Her announced opponent, Kalki Yalamanchili, intends to run as an independent and must gather thousands of signatures to get on the ballot. There is no Republican candidate so far, but Yalamanchili appears to have strong support among Republicans in Clarke and Oconee counties.
One incumbent Clarke County Board of Education member, District 2’s Claudia Butts, qualified to run for re-election as well. The district 4, 6 and 8 seats will be on the May ballot as well.
State Rep. Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville) will have a challenger in the House District 121 GOP primary: John Grigsby, a nurse practitioner also from Watkinsville. In House District 124, which also includes part of Athens, Democrat Melanie Miller, a White Plains paralegal, will challenge Rep. Trey Rhodes (R-Greensboro).
Superior Court judges Patrick Haggard and Lawton Stephens, State Court judges Ryan Hope and Charles Auslander, Probate Court Judge Susan Schaffer and Clerk of Court Elisa Zarate also qualified to run for re-election. None have drawn any opposition yet.
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