While Athens voters have been focusing most of their attention on an incredibly close presidential race and hotly contested race for district attorney, that’s not all that’s on the ballot. Voters countywide will also be choosing a member of Congress and state senator, while more than half will be picking a state representative as well. Two constitutional amendments and a statewide referendum round out the ballot.
Republicans in Atlanta have sliced and diced Athens to the extent that they’ve all but ensured incumbents will be re-elected in each of these districts, but Democrats have fielded challengers nonetheless.
“This seat is winnable,” state House candidate Eric Gisler told Oconee County Democrats in August. “You know, they tell us that it’s not. They tell us we’re in a red district. They tell us it’s gerrymandered. And it is gerrymandered.
“But a year like this, where you’ve got Kamala Harris at the top and all this Democratic energy and such a horrible Republican ticket, and I mean all the way down the ballot, this district is flippable,” he said. “We can make it happen. I just need a little bit of help.”
House District 120: State Rep. Houston Gaines (R-Athens), not yet 30, is widely viewed as a rising star within the Republican Party and has amassed a war chest of nearly $800,000. The grandson of a beloved judge, Joseph Gaines, he started his political career running Democratic mayor Nancy Denson’s re-election campaign while still in high school at Athens Academy. But he has been leaning into a MAGA persona as Donald Trump has taken over the GOP. A staunch critic of District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez, Gaines spearheaded bills creating a council to crack down on “rogue prosecutors” and requiring cash bail for minor crimes, as well as banning cities from “defunding the police” while falsely accusing Athens-Clarke County of doing so. He was also the deciding 91st vote to approve the “heartbeat bill” limiting abortions to six weeks. While these stances may be unpopular with Athens voters, most of Gaines’ district lies in conservative Oconee, Barrow and Jackson counties. Gaines has also worked to pass substance abuse recovery and parental leave bills, among more than 20 others.
Gaines is opposed by Democrat Andrew Ferguson, who is running on a platform of restoring abortion rights, fully funding education, and affordable housing and health care. Ferguson is executive director of the 2030 Project, a political action committee dedicated to flipping the state legislature before the next round of redistricting in 2032. He previously ran unsuccessfully for the 10th Congressional District and Senate District 47.
House District 121: Gisler is challenging state Rep. Marcus Wiedower (R-Athens), who represents most of Oconee County and a portion of southeastern Clarke County. Wiedower was first elected in 2018, along with Gaines, after both lost flukish special elections in 2017. The pair works closely together, although Wiedower keeps a lower profile than Gaines, who is often in the news. Wiedower voted in favor of the six-week abortion ban, renter protections, an antisemitic hate crimes bill, requiring cash bail, mental health funding, banning the teaching of “divisive concepts” about race, allowing concealed weapons without a permit, private school vouchers and banning gender-affirming care. He lists his priorities as improving education, local control over transportation projects and preventing tax hikes.
The Georgia Democratic Party nominated Gisler when Courtney Frisch dropped out of the race shortly after the May primary. The Atlanta native is a former co-chair of the Oconee County Democrats, owns Athens business The Olive Basket and works for an insurance tech startup. His platform includes an independent redistricting commission, expanding Medicaid, a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion rights, and universal background checks and red flag laws for gun buyers.
House District 124: Melanie Miller is the first Black woman to run for this seat and calls herself “a dedicated community leader and advocate for social justice.” The White Plains resident is running on a platform of restoring reproductive rights, protecting children from gun violence and expanding mental health services.
Incumbent Trey Rhodes (R-Greensboro) represents a mostly rural district that only recently was redrawn to include a sliver of eastern Clarke County. Like Wiedower and Gaines, he generally votes along party lines. Rhodes is an insurance agent and financial advisor who has served in the legislature since 2015. He chairs the Game, Fish & Parks Committee.
Senate District 46: Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) is the city’s long-serving legislator, seeking his 10th term this year. A lawyer by trade, he is a staunch conservative, but has occasionally been known to buck his Republican colleagues, for example when he voted against a bill allowing guns on campus in 2017 that later became law. Earlier this year, Cowsert surprised advocates of expanding Medicaid when he called a committee hearing on the issue, then disappointed them when he cast the deciding vote against moving the legislation forward.
His opponent this year is Gareth Fenley, a UGA graduate and Walton County resident who owns a business preparing students to take the social workers’ licensing exam. “My vision is bigger than one seat. I’m campaigning to strengthen democracy,” Fenley said in her campaign announcement. “No one can take for granted that our democracy will be here tomorrow.” She is in favor of a living wage, LGBTQ rights, access to health care and reforming gun laws.
Senate District 47: The other half of Athens is represented by Sen. Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville), an engineer who was first elected in 2010. His record is even more conservative than Cowsert’s—he voted “yes” on the campus carry bill and against a bill outlawing citizen’s arrest after the murder of Ahmaud Arberry in Brunswick. Ginn has faced a few scandals in recent years. In 2022 Fox 5 discovered that Ginn, then the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, had obtained free steel beams from a bridge project in Madison County. Later that year, he left his job as director of the Madison County Industrial Development Authority under pressure from the county commission.
Once again, Ginn’s opponent is Conolus Scott, a courthouse bailiff and minister from Madison County. Scott has said that Ginn “caters to special interests” and that he will “bring honesty, integrity and respect back to our district.” He is in favor of reproductive rights, expanding Medicaid, stricter gun laws, education funding and closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy.
10th Congressional District: Lexy Doherty is running harder in this deep-red, mostly rural district than any Democrat in years. She has talked about her experience putting off having children due to fears about having complications that could violate Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, as well as economic anxieties about the expense of health care and child care. In the wake of the Apalachee High School shooting, Doherty criticized Rep. Mike Collins for supporting a bill to reinstate the background check loophole for gun shows the Biden administration closed. She has also spoken out against last-minute election rule changes by Trump supporters at the state level.
Collins—the son and trucking company heir of the late Middle Georgia congressman Mac Collins—has primarily made a name for himself making outrageous statements on social media. For example, he has expressed a desire to throw his political opponents out of a helicopter like Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, accused President Biden of ordering a hit on Donald Trump and said that Athens-Clarke County officials have “blood on their hands” for the murder of Laken Riley. Shortly after, Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, requiring the detention of any migrant accused of burglary or theft.
Doherty has challenged Collins to debate on numerous occasions, but he has yet to accept.
Amendments and Referendums: The first constitutional amendment on the ballot would cap property assessments at the rate of inflation. For example, if one’s home value rose 10% in a year and the inflation rate was 2%, for tax purposes the assessed value would rise only 2%. This would benefit homeowners, but it could shift the tax burden onto businesses, landlords and renters. If the amendment passes, local jurisdictions can opt out. However, Mayor Kelly Girtz told Flagpole that ACC is unlikely to opt out. “Clarke is in a better position than many communities, in that a minority of our tax digest is comprised of homesteaded properties,” he said. “The jurisdictions that will really be hit hard are those like Jefferson and Johns Creek that are more heavily comprised of resident homeowners.” The Clarke County School District did not respond to a request for comment, but board member Tim Denson said he believes CCSD is unlikely to opt out either.
If passed, the amendment also sets up a scenario where the local government could ask voters to approve an additional 1% sales tax to replace lost revenue, bringing the total sales tax to 10%. Sales taxes are generally more regressive than property taxes, hitting the poor harder than the affluent. But they are also paid by visitors and on-campus college students who use government facilities and services but do not contribute property taxes.
The second constitutional amendment would create a new tax court for disputes with the Georgia Department of Revenue, which are currently handled by an administrative tribunal. Supporters say it would speed up the process of handling disputes.
A statewide referendum would increase the tax exemption for “tangible personal property” from $7,500 to $20,000. This includes boats, airplanes and business inventory but does not affect residential property taxes.
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