Seery, Shiner set for runoff in June 18 election

Jill Holloway, Thomasville Times-Enterprise, Ga.
·2 min read

May 23—THOMASVILLE- The 2024 Primary Election has resulted in a runoff for the non-partisan position of Chief Magistrate, with incumbent Andrew Seery set to face off against Matthew Shiner on June 18. Neither candidate secured over a 50% margin. Seery received 48.17% of the votes with 3,469, while Shiner received 29.34% with 2,113 votes. The remaining votes cast were for Chuck McDonald.

Republicans will see an additional runoff for U.S. House of Representatives District 2 on their June 18th ballot.

Chuck Hand and A. Wayne Johnson led the race on the Republican side, with Johnson receiving 2,249 votes locally, while Hand received 1,342.

Following their runoff in June, the winning candidate will then face longtime representative Sanford Bishop on the November ballot.

The office of Sheriff will also be required to have another election on Nov. 5, where Republican Tim Watkins will face off against Democrat Leila Spires.

With a total of 5,313 Republican ballots cast, Watkins received 50.72% of the votes with 2,695. He was followed by Joey Blackburn who received 22.81% of the votes with 1,212.

Democrats cast 2,134 votes for the office of Sheriff with Spires overwhelming fellow candidate Greg Hobbs.

Spires garnered 76.05% of the votes with 1,623, while Hobbs received 511 votes.

Spires shared her excitement with her constituents, thanking them for showing their support at the polls.

"Thank you to the voters, my team, family, friends, and colleagues for their hard work in helping me win the primary," she said. "We have miles to go before we sleep."

Spires reminded those who may not have turned out to the polls, that the campaign is not about her, but about the people of Thomas County.

"I believe change is necessary in Thomas County to ensure we continue to thrive," she said. "If elected Sheriff, I will pledge to protect the property of residents and communities."

The County Commission- District 2 candidates, incumbent Democrat Moses Gross and Republican Louis Schofill, ran unopposed Tuesday for their parties' nominations but will face one another on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Gross' fellow County Commissioners held on to their positions.

County Commissioner- District 4 incumbent Mark NeSmith received 619 votes, as opposed to his competition Eddie Redding, who received 195 votes.

County Commissioner- District 6 incumbent Wiley Grady retained his seat, receiving 603 votes, while Adrian Burns received 165 votes.

County Commissioner- District 8 incumbent Zippy Vonier had a close race with Jimmy Woodward, but edged him out, receiving 468 votes, as opposed to Woodward's 359 votes.

With the primary closing out and a runoff in the near future, Elections official Frank Scoggins reminded voters that a week of early voting for the runoff will begin June 10th at the Thomas County Board of Elections office.