UPDATE: Runoff question hinges on military ballots

Caison Kirkland, The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
·3 min read

May 22—VALDOSTA — Lowndes County voters are guaranteed one runoff following Tuesday's primary voting, but another race is a "cliffhanger," Elections Supervisor Deb Cox said on Thursday.

Under Georgia law, a candidate must receive more than half the votes cast to win an election. That's not a problem with two candidates, but often when there are three or more candidates, no one can reach that threshold. The result is another election that includes only the top two vote-getters.

A runoff is assured in the Republican District 5 County Commission race. Five candidates vied on Tuesday, with the top vote getter reaching only 30.74% of the votes. Michael Smith received 1,496 votes; Tommy Willis, 1,183; James Puckett, 969; David Sims, 779; and Savannah Baker, 440.

The winner of the runoff between Smith and Willis must still face Democrat Ron J. Bythwood, who ran unopposed. That election will take place Nov. 5.

A second runoff is indicated by the vote totals as reported Tuesday night. In the race for Board of Education District 7, Chris Buescher received 503 votes, which is 49.90% of the total votes cast for the position; G. Edward "Eddie" Smith, the incumbent, received 322; and Larry Godwin received 183.

However, not all of the ballots have come in. Even though it's three days after Election Day, absentee ballots from military servicemen have a few extra days to arrive. Cox said there are 10 or 11 such ballots that haven't come in yet, and if they arrive by 5 p.m. Friday, they'll be counted.

Cox said if even two of those ballots vote for Buescher, he wins the seat without a runoff. Because Board of Education races are nonpartisan, there will be no further voting for the seat in November.

According to the Georgia Secretary of State's website, a runoff would be scheduled for June 18, with a short early voting period before that.

Other contested races were resolved with Tuesday's voting:

— Clay Guess overcame incumbent Rodney V. Cain for the Republican nomination for Lowndes County Tax Commissioner, 3,652 votes to Cain's 2,574. Guess will be unopposed in the November general election.

— Latoya S. Gordon won the Democratic nomination for Lowndes County coroner over John "Big John" Hogan, 1,794 votes to Hogan's 1,284. Gordon will face incumbent Austin Fiveash, the sole Republican candidate, in November.

— In the Lowndes County Board of Education District 5 race, incumbent Robert McGeehan won with 438 votes to Tessa Greene Carder's 196 and Chelsea Carter's 164.

— In the race to succeed retiring Superior Court Judge Richard Cowart, Valdosta attorney William Whitesell won in Lowndes County over Valdosta Municipal Court Judge Jeremy Baker, 5,335 votes to 4,079. Across the five-county judicial circuit, Whitesell received 11,802 votes to Baker's 9,914. Since this is a nonpartisan race, Whitesell will take office in January.

— In another regional contest, Darrius Butler overcame Vince Watkins to become the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. House of Representatives District 8. In Lowndes County, Butler received 2,389 votes to Watkins' 546. The district includes all or part of 29 counties, however, and as of 5 p.m. Wednesday only 96.55% of the precincts had reported, according to the Secretary of State's website. At that time Butler had 15,691 votes to Watkins' 6,207 across the district. Butler will face incumbent Austin Scott, the only Republican candidate, in November.