What you need to know about Columbus area candidates for state and federal offices

Mark Rice
·3 min read
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The May 21 primary election in Georgia will include choices for state and federal legislative offices.

April 22 is the deadline to be registered if you want to vote in this election. The early voting period will start April 29 and end May 17. Any necessary runoffs will be conducted June 18.

Here are the candidates who qualified to run for state and federal legislative offices in the Columbus area that could be on your ballot, depending on where you live:

Georgia House

District 137: incumbent Debbie Buckner (D) of Talbot County, retired; challenger Carlton Mahone Sr. (D) of Talbot County, a pastor.

District 138: incumbent Vance Smith (R) of Harris County, a consultant.

District 139: vacant seat. Four candidates will compete in an April 9 special election to succeed the deceased Richard Smith (R), who died from the flu Jan. 30 at age 78:

  • Sean Knox, Republican, president of Knox Pest Control in Columbus.

  • Robert Mallard, independent, founding member and associate broker with Inheritance Realty Group in Columbus until November. Now, co-founder and beekeeper with Foundation Honey Company in Columbus.

  • Donald Moeller, Republican, oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Columbus.

  • Carmen Rice (not related to this reporter), Republican, human resources professional in Columbus, first female Muscogee County GOP chair.

Because this is a special election to fill a vacated seat, no primary election precedes it. So any district resident could have qualified for the ballot, regardless of party affiliation, but no Democrat qualified to run for this seat, which is in a predominantly Republican area.

The winner of the April 9 special election immediately becomes the Georgia House District 139 representative and fills the remaining portion of Smith’s two-year term, which expires at the end of this year. If necessary, a runoff between the top two finishers will be conducted May 7.

Knox, Moeller and Rice also qualified as Republicans for the May 21 primary. The winner of that race will compete against Carl Sprayberry, a Columbus chef, who is the only Democrat to qualify to campaign for this seat.

Mallard didn’t qualify for the primary. So even if he wins the April 9 special election, he can’t be the District 139 representative beyond this year.

District 140: incumbent Teddy Reese (D) of Muscogee County, an attorney; challenger Alyssa Nia Williams (D) of Muscogee County, an analyst.

District 141: incumbent Carolyn Hugley (D) of Muscogee County, a licensed insurance agent.

Georgia Senate

District 15: incumbent Ed Harbison (D) of Muscogee County, a businessman.

District 29: incumbent Randy Robertson (R) of Harris County, a retired law enforcement officer; challenger Ellen Wright (D) of Meriwether County, retired.

U.S. House

District 2: incumbent Sanford Bishop (D) of Albany, a former attorney. He will compete in the Nov. 5 election against the winner of the May 21 primary among four Republicans:

District 3: No incumbent will be on the ballot because Drew Ferguson (R) decided not to seek re-election. The May 21 primary will have contests among six Republicans and two Democrats.

Competing in the Republican primary are:

  • Jim Bennett, a retired Carroll County resident

  • Ray Blair, a Muscogee County insurance agent

  • Mike Crane, a Heard County general contractor and a former state senator

  • Mike Dugan, a Carroll County retired military veteran and a former state senator

  • Brian Jack, a Fayette County political adviser for Donald Trump

  • Philip Singleton, a Coweta County chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick and a former state representative.

Competing in the Democratic primary are: