Who won in Athens-Clarke County Primary Election races? Find the results here.

In Athens-Clarke County, races for sheriff, tax commissioner and coroner were decided in Tuesday primary balloting. Each race attracted just two candidates, both running in the Democratic primary. The results reported here are unofficial until certified.

Also decided Tuesday in Athens-Clarke County were three nonpartisan county commission contests.

The lone Clarke County Board of Education race on the ballot is headed for a runoff, as neither of the three candidates claimed most votes.

Sheriff

In the contest for sheriff, incumbent John Q. Williams, a former Athens-Clarke County Police Department detective, easily won reelection, earning 6,173 of the 9,447 votes cast in the countywide contest.

His challenger, Tommy Dorsey, a 20-year veteran of the sheriff’s department who now serves as a Clarke County School District police officer, took 3,274 ballots in the race.

More: Northeast Georgia voters return incumbents, elect new sheriffs in Tuesday primaries

Tax Commissioner

In the race for tax commissioner, also on Democratic ballots Tuesday, J.P. Lemay, a project manager for the Athens-Clarke County Department of Leisure Services, won the post over local insurance agent Brant Spratlin.

Lemay got 5,267 of the 8,488 ballots in Tuesday voting, with Spratlin earning 3,221 votes. Lemay will replace incumbent Toni Meadow, who opted not to seek reelection.

The race was somewhat contentious, with Spratlin taking a challenge to Lemay’s candidacy to the Clarke County Board of Elections. Spratlin contended that a county ordinance addressing political activity by county employees barred Lemay from running. The elections board, however, found that state law, which sets qualifications for tax commissioners, did not bar Lemay.

Coroner

In Tuesday’s balloting for coroner, where both candidates are funeral home employees, Michael Eberhart received 6,548 of the 8,204 votes cast in the contest to take the post.

William Gaulden Jr. earned 1,656 of the 8,204 votes in the race to win the office.

Coroners investigate the cause of death when someone dies outside a hospital, and sign death certificates.

Eberhart will replace Sonny Wilson, who opted not to seek reelection after 16 years.

During the campaign, both Eberhart and Gaulden praised Wilson’s handling of the office, and both indicated they would like to expand operations of the coroner’s office to better handle the hundreds of calls for service received each year.

More: Who won in Oconee County Primary Election races? Find the results here.

Athens-Clarke County Commission District 2

In the race for the District 2 seat, incumbent Melissa Link got 1,100 of the 1,606 votes cast in the race, as downtown Athens businessman Jason Jacobs earned 506 ballots in an effort that fell short of earning the office.

District 2 extends along both sides of a long intown stretch of West Broad, includes part of east Athens, skirts the northern edge of downtown Athens and along multiple blocks of neighborhoods along Prince Avenue

Link, an outspoken advocate for affordable housing and environmental issues, is a progressive firebrand, while Jacobs used his ultimately unsuccessful campaign to call passionately for inclusive approaches to addressing issues from small business growth to safe public spaces.

Athens-Clarke County Commission District 6

In District 6, which covers the western edge of the county, former Athens-Clarke County government internal auditor Stephanie Johnson won the contest for the open seat created by the decision of incumbent District 6 Commissioner Jesse Houle not to seek reelection.

Johnson received 1,141 of the 1,968 votes made in the contest, while local businesswoman Rashe Malcolm, owner of Rashe’s Cuisine, a Jamaican restaurant, claimed the remaining 827 votes in the race. Both Johson and Malcolm were political newcomers.

As a commission candidate, Johnson, who was fired as the county’s internal auditor in 2021 for inadequate job performance, supported responsible spending of public funds, along with property tax relief and properly equipping public safety personnel.

Malcolm’s platform focused largely on small business development, which she said is as important as the county’s efforts to attract major employers for economic development.

Athens-Clarke County Commission District 8

The District 8 seat on the Athens-Clarke County Commission, which covers a wide swath of the eastern end of the county, including heavily residential areas along College Station Road and Gaines School Road, found incumbent Carol Myers, a former dean of general education at Athens Technical College, facing a challenge from Sidney “Mama Sid” Waters, whose family established the popular eastside Mama Sid’s pizza restaurant some years ago.

Myers retained the seat in Tuesday balloting, earning 942 votes as Waters claimed 358 ballots in the 1,300-vote contest.

Waters, who served on the Clarke County Board of Education from 1996 to 2008, decided to run in the wake of the death of 22-year-old Athens nursing student Laken Riley. An undocumented Venezuelan immigrant, 26-year-old Jose Ibarra, has been charged with murder in the fatal incident.

Waters, critical of what she saw as sanctuary-like policies of the Athens-Clarke government, also suggested during her campaign that the county’s eastern side, which includes District 8, has been all but ignored by the county government.

Myers, first elected to the commission in 2020, is currently involved with a local workforce development task force focused on small business development and attracting high-wage jobs to the county. Myers is also an advocate for alternative transportation.

Clarke County Board of Education

In other nonpartisan Athens-Clarke County balloting on Tuesday, the one contested seat on the Clarke County Board of Education is headed for a runoff featuring incumbent Claudia Butts against longtime Athens-Clarke County resident Mary P. Bagby.

In the District 2 school board race, covering an eastern section of the county encompassed roughly by Lexington Road, Danielsville Road and Athens Road, Butts was challenged by Bagby and Kirrena N. Gallagher.

Butts was the leading vote-getter in the contest, claiming 319 of the 893 votes cast, 35.72% of all ballots in the race. Bagby got 299 votes to claim 33.48% of the ballots cast, while Gallagher trailed narrowly with 275 votes, 30.8% of the ballots cast in the contest.

Butts was appointed to the District 2 seat by the school board in 2022 after Gallagher, who defeated Bagby in 2020 balloting, left the board in an unsuccessful effort to seek a seat on the Athens-Clarke County Commission.

Butts is a native Athenian and Cedar Shoals High School graduate with a degree in psychology from Paine College. Bagby is a frequent presence at school board meetings.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Athens-Clarke County 2024 Primary Election results