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They’re off: Candidates declare intentions
Published May 9, 2008
LOGANVILLE — Qualifying ended last Friday for several local political races and it appears to be stacking up to become quite a busy election season in both Walton and Gwinnett counties.
The Loganville area has several candidates vying to represent local citizens in some of the offices up for grabs.
In the Walton County commissioner’s race, current District 2 Commissioner Michael Turner of Loganville is challenging incumbent Kevin Little for the chairman’s seat, leaving the seat open to either current Loganville Councilman Chuck Bagley or political newcomer Tom Kirby. Bagley said he is taking up the challenge mainly to build co-operation between city and the county government.
“After studying the situation and talking with many citizens, business leaders and other elected officials in the cities and counties, I made the decision to run based on two main issues,” Bagley said.
“There needs to be stronger co-operation between the cities and the county government to identify the causes and solutions of the various problems throughout Walton County,” Bagley said. “Also, the residents and voters of Loganville that pay Walton County taxes don’t feel they have sufficient representation on the board of commissioners.”
Bagley added he couldn’t accomplish this on his own but would take the support and co-operation of the other elected officials, government employees and the citizen and community leaders.
Kirby said the biggest issue is growth and how the county is going to prepare for it. He said there is a great deal of importance on getting industry and businesses into the county.
“The main thing I want to do is make sure that we are taking care of Walton County today and keeping an eye on the future,” Kirby said.
In District 3, Loganville resident Harry “Phil” Green will challenge Vickie Gasaway for the seat he lost to her last time around. Ron Smith, of Monroe, is joining the fray to make it a three-way race.
These races will be decided in the primary on July 15, or Aug. 5 in the case of a run-off where there is a three-way race, since they are all Republicans and have no Democratic challengers. District 3 is the only one with the potential for a run-off if there is no clear winner with more than 50 percent of the vote.
In Gwinnett County, there are two Republican challengers taking on Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister, setting up a three-way race in the July primary and leaving room for a possible run off. This race, however, won’t be decided until November since the winner will have to take on the lone Democratic challenger, Vincent Passariello of Snellville.
The two Republican challengers are political newcomer Glenn Pirkle of Buford and current District 1 Commissioner Lorraine Green, who is leaving her post to challenge Bannister for the chairman seat.
In District 3 — which includes the Loganville, Grayson and Snellville areas — Gwinnett County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau is facing a challenger from fellow Republican Doug Stacks of Dacula in the primary with the winner to face Democrat Earl Herndon in November.
The Walton County Board of Education race is also shaping up to be an interesting one with political newcomer Becky Mattix signing on to challenge Mark Banks for the District 3 post. Mattix, who has been a critic of the current district administration and advocate for student and school safety, said, “We need major changes, better communication, accountability of our leadership and board policy reform.”
While in previous years some of the BOE seats have gone uncontested, and even in some instances unfilled and required an appointee because of a lack of willing candidates, this year is proving to be different. District 4 Board Member Coleman Landers is facing a challenge from political newcomer Kevin Richard Wood. Three candidates — Christina Askew, David Breedlove and Robert H. “Bob” Kelly — are all vying for District 7.
District 6, however, had no candidates stepping up to the plate when qualifying closed last week.
In Gwinnett County, Board of Education Commissioner Carole Boyce, a Republican, is facing a challenge in November from Democrat Megan Kline for District 1, which includes part of the Grayson cluster.
Another race of local interest is the Walton County Sheriff’s race. While Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway slid back in with no opposition whatsoever, Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman is facing a challenge from former sheriff Al Yarborough whom he unseated four years ago. This race will be decided on July 15 since both are Republicans and there are no Democratic challengers.
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