Local & State Headlines

Tax reform concerns abound

• Even though the state legislative session has ended, the debate over tax reform rages on.

Carlton Fletcher

ALBANY — Eleven Democrats and one Republican candidate officially qualified for local races that will be contested in the July 15 general primary Monday during the first day of a five-day qualifying period.

Incumbent District 1 County Commissioner Lamar Hudgins was the lone Republican who completed qualifying requirements at the GOP’s signup location at Albany Travel at 2305 Dawson Road, while Democratic candidates appeared eager to get an early jump on the campaign by filing at the party’s location at Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union No. 72 hall at 1900 Clark Ave.

“I just decided to go ahead and get it done,” Hudgins said. “I’d decided I was going to run again, so I saw no reason in waiting. I expect this to be a really important election, from national offices to the local level.

“Just look at the offices that are being contested in Dougherty County: district attorney, sheriff, (superior court) judge ... and those are offices that are going to be open. It doesn’t get much bigger than that.”

Constance Burkes, chair of the Dougherty County Democratic Party, confirmed her party’s qualifiers for the local races and said she’s had conversations with others who were still considering their options.

“I try to keep my finger on the pulse of the party, and I was aware of all the qualifiers (Monday) but one,” she said. “There are definitely two others who will come in, and there are some more out there who are considering.

“I think it’s very important for a county like Dougherty, which has been strongly Democratic, to increase its voting across the board. We’ve laid the groundwork for a big push to register new voters and to also involve inactive voters on our roles.”

Democrats qualifying for local offices include incumbent County Commissioners Art Searles (District 5) and Muarlean Edwards (District 3), incumbent Clerk of Courts Evonne Mull, incumbent Dougherty School Board member the Rev. James Bush (District 5) and incumbent Coroner Emma Quimbley.

Albany Police officer James Williams and Dougherty Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Sproul qualified to run for the sheriff’s office, which will be vacated by Jamil Saba, while those qualifying for School Board races included Anita Williams Brown and Thomas Langstaff (at-large), Judith Corbett (District 1) and Velvet Edwards-Riggins (District 3).

All of the candidates but Corbett had previously announced their intention to seek office.

Meanwhile, local contractor Harry James announced late Monday afternoon that he will qualify today to run for the District 5 County Commission seat held by Searles.

Greg Jones, vice chair of the Dougherty Republican Party, said he’d like to see more local GOP candidates run for office, but he said the party’s representatives make up for their lack of quantity by providing quality leadership.

“Sure, you’d always like to have more folks running for office, but I’ll put our Republican folks up against anybody,” Jones said. “We’re proud of our candidates, and we’ve heard of a few others out there who are still considering running. We’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out by the end of the week.”

At the state Capitol Monday, current Water, Gas & Light Commission board member Carol Fullerton said in a phone interview that she had qualified Monday to run for the House District 151 seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Freddie Powell-Sims. Sims is leaving the House to make a run for the state Senate District 12 seat being vacated by Michael Meyer von Bremen.

“This is my first run for state office, so the process was pretty exciting for me,” Fullerton said. “House Minority Leader Dubose Porter (D-Dublin) is a friend of mine who I’ve known since we were in Leadership Georgia together back in 1985, and he introduced me to a lot of people today.

“We qualified in the House Chamber, and it was amazing how quiet the Capitol was. Today is Confederate Memorial Day, and all of the offices were closed. I did see (U.S. Rep.) Sanford Bishop (D-Albany) and (U.S. Sen.) Saxby Chambliss (R-Moultrie) and a few other folks I know.”

Fullerton’s first foray into politics came at the state capital when she worked for then-Gov. Jimmy Carter.

Incumbent House District 152 Rep. Ed Rynders, R-Leesburg, said Monday he was leaving for Atlanta and would qualify today to run for a fourth term.

Qualifying for state and local races will continue today through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will conclude Friday in a 9 a.m.-noon session.

More Headlines>>