“It’s sad that we’ve come to this,” outgoing Dougherty District Attorney Ken Hodges said Wednesday. “All voters should have a say in these important races.”
But the precinct system dictates that voters choose either a Democratic or a Republican ballot for Tuesday’s primaries. Since all candidates for the District 12 state senate, sheriff, district attorney, coroner and at-large school board posts are Democrats, voters who choose Republican ballots will have no say in those races.
And while many Republican voters in the heavily Democratic county say they have no problem abandoning party lines to have a say in the key races, that leaves Republican incumbents like District 1 school board candidate David Maschke and Albany Public Service Commission veteran Doug Everett vulnerable to less experienced opponents.
“That’s definitely a concern,” Maschke, who is facing political newcomer Laura Calhoun in the Republican primary, said Friday. “That’s why I’m trying to make sure my constituents understand that over the next four years the school board will be responsible for spending in excess of 750 million tax dollars. And education will dictate the future of Dougherty County.
“For those two reasons, I’m reminding voters of my record on improving education in the county and of being a good steward of taxpayers’ dollars.”
One person who could benefit from the crossover vote is Senate candidate Freddie Powell Sims, a four-year House veteran who is battling former Rep. John White for the District 12 seat being vacated by Michael Meyer von Bremen.
“Most races are driven by local politics, so, yes, I think having a strong crossover vote could help me,” Sims said Friday. “I think voters should vote their conviction, especially at this pivotal time in Dougherty County and Southwest Georgia history.
“We’re going to lose some very influential elected officials with many years of experience this year. What we have to do is make sure we replace them with people who know how to make the system work for Southwest Georgia. We need to elect leaders who are dedicated to serving the people of the district, not in serving themselves.”
The race that is drawing the most attention in the county is the sheriff’s race, in which Albany Police Officers Benita Childs and James Williams are battling current Dougherty Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Sproul to succeed longtime top lawman Jamil Saba.
The contest took on added drama when newspaper publisher and current Dougherty County Commissioner Art Searles claimed that Childs, who is black, had been paid to enter the race to dilute the black vote and pave the way for Sproul, who is white, to defeat Williams, who also is black.
“All that is just one person’s opinion,” Sproul said Friday. “While campaigning, my wife and I have not come upon one person — white or black — who’s brought up race. I was raised not to think that way, so I don’t let it enter into what I’m trying to do.
“We’re losing a man (Saba) who’s served this community for a long time, so my experience, I think, has to count for a lot. In September, I will have been with the sheriff’s department for 26 years. This is my first run at elected office, so I’m just encouraging the voters to throw all the rhetoric out and look at what each candidate brings to the table.”
Searles, meanwhile, is being challenged by contractor Harry James for Searles’ District 5 seat on the county commission. After a recent commission meeting at which Chairman Jeff Sinyard spoke of the importance of water management in the region, James pointed out that he has second- and third-degree water management licenses.
James watched as Searles received the endorsement of five of the other six current county commissioners, then said, “That’s fine, but I’d rather have the endorsement of the voters in the district.”
The race to replace Hodges as district attorney has been a heated one as Greg Edwards, who has drawn a number of endorsements from throughout the county and region, battles local attorney Ingrid Driskell. Driskell claims Edwards, who has been with the Dougherty district attorney’s office for 18 years, the last 13 as Chief Assistant AD, is out of touch with the defendant’s side of the judicial equation.
“Certainly, I want to prosecute hardened criminals, but I think alternatives to jail time would better serve the public in some cases,” Driskell said.
Attorney Tommy Langstaff is facing retired educator Anita Williams Brown for the at-large school board seat being vacated by Richard Anson, while incumbent Coroner Emma Quimbley is being challenged by corrections officer Andrew Harris. Those races are also expected to draw some Republican voters to choose Democratic ballot.
The only other contested race in the Republican primary pits Pam Davidson against Lauren “Bubba” McDonald for a seat on the Public Service Commission, while retired energy consultant Jim Powell is squaring off with Bob Indech on the Democratic ballot for the District 4 (North Georgia) PSC seat. Also on the Democratic ticket, Dale Cardwell, Vernon Jones, Rand Knight, Josh Lanier and Jim Martin are battling to see which will oppose U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Moultrie, for his seat in the general election.
Democratic House hopefuls Winfred Dukes (the District 150 incumbent) and Carol Fullerton (151) and Republican incumbent Ed Rynders (152) are unopposed in the primaries, but Fullerton — who hopes to take the seat vacated by Sims for her Senatorial run — has drawn possible opposition from Albany minister Rance Pettibone, who is attempting to qualify as an Independent.
Pettibone has collected more than the number of signatures from voters in the district required to qualify for the race, but those voters must be certified by the Dougherty Elections office by Aug. 6.
Incumbent Dougherty County Commissioners Lamar Hudgins (R, District 1) and Muarlean Edwards (D, District 3) have no opposition in their races, and neither do Democratic school board candidates Judith Corbett (District 1), Velvet Edwards-Riggins (District 3) and James C. Bush (District 5). Longtime Clerk of Superior Court Evonne Mull (D) is also running without opposition.
Both candidates for the U.S. House Second Congressional District seat, incumbent Democrat Sanford Bishop and Republican Lee Ferrell, are unopposed in the primaries.
Runoffs in any races that fail to declare a winner will be held Aug. 5, while the general election — which includes the presidential showdown between presumed candidates John McCain (R) and Barack Obama (D) — will be contested Nov. 4. Polls at 28 Dougherty County and Albany precincts open Tuesday at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.