Voters should brace for a long ballot in Georgia’s May primaries

ALBANY — Now that the 154th gathering of the state’s General Assembly has concluded, lawmakers statewide are hitting the campaign trail. All 180 state House seats, along with all 56 Senate seats, are up for grabs.

In addition, Georgia voters must elect a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and attorney general — which will make for a long ballot on the May 22 primary elections.

Here are the qualifying candidates in the major state races:

GOVERNOR:

There are no shortage of candidates looking to replace Gov. Nathan Deal, who is termed out. Nine people have qualified, seven Republicans and two Democrats. Here are the qualified candidates:

Casey Cagle (R)

The presumed GOP front runner, Cagle made history in 2006 by becoming the first Republican elected to Georgia’s second highest office. He was re-elected in 2010 2014.

Brian Kemp (R)

Georgia’s current Secretary of State, Kemp succeeded Karen Handel in 2010 when she stepped down to run in the 2010 Georgia gubernatorial election.

Kemp previously had served as a Georgia State Senator from 2002 to 2006. Kemp won the 2010 election for a full term as Georgia Secretary of State over Democrat Georganna Sinkfield. In 2014, Kemp was re-elected.

Clay Tippins (R)

Tippins grew up in Gwinnett County, graduating from Shiloh High School where he was an All-American swimmer and high school national champion. He earned a swimming scholarship to Stanford University, was a member of three National Championship teams and graduated with honors.

After college, Clay had one immediate goal in mind — becoming a Navy SEAL. After graduating from the Navy’s Officer Candidate School, he accomplished that mission and served with the Navy’s SEAL Team One.

Eddie Hayes (R)

Hayes is a restaurant owner in Watkinsville.

Hunter Hill (R)

Hill said his life has always been about leadership. Through sports, church and music, he maximized opportunities to lead teams to a common goal. These opportunities led to being recruited to play football at West Point, U.S. Naval Academy and Harvard University. Hunter chose to play football at West Point because of the academy’s storied history as the nation’s premier leadership institution.

Hunter graduated from West Point with a Bachelor of Science degree in general management with a minor in civil engineering.

Mark Urbach (R)

Urbach is an author from Atlanta.

Michael Williams (R)

Williams is a certified public accountant from Cumming.

Stacey Abrams (D)

The former House Minority Leader gave up her House seat to run for governor. Her sister, Leslie Joyce Abrams, currently serves as a U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia.

Stacey Evans (D)

Evans is an attorney who lives in Ringgold.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR:

There are three Republicans and two Democrats in the field.

David Shafer (R)

Shafer was first elected to the Georgia Senate in 2002. He represents Senate District 48, which includes portions of Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

Shafer is the immediate past president pro tempore of the Senate. He serves as vice chairman of the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations, Finance, Health and Human Services and Reapportionment and Redistricting committees.

Goeff Duncan (R)

Duncan is a small business owner from Smyrna.

Rick Jeffares (R)

Jeffares is a small business owner and project manager from McDonough.

Sarah Riggs Amico (D)

Amico is an executive chairperson from Marietta.

Triana Arnold James (D)

James is a business owner from Marietta.

SECRETARY OF STATE:

Brad Raffensberger (R)

Raffensburger is an engineer from John’s Creek.

Buzz Brockway (R)

Brockway is an operations manager from Lawrenceville.

Josh McKoon (R)

Mckoon, an attorney, is a state senator from Columbus who was first elected in 2010.

Dee Hawkins (D)

Hawkins is a minister and a consultant living in Lithonia.

John Barrow (D)

A self-described “blue dog democrat,” Barrow was the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 12th congressional district from 2005 to 2015.

Rakeem Hadley (D)

Hadley is from Conyers.

ATTORNEY GENERAL:

Chris Carr (R)

Carr is the current Attorney General of Georgia. Deal appointed Carr to the post to fill the vacancy created by the departure of former Attorney General Sam Olens so he could become president of Kennesaw State University.

Charlie Bailey (D)

A senior assistant district attorney in the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, Bailey served in the gang unit, where he prosecuted some of the toughest cases against some of Georgia’s most violent criminals. He is from Harris County.

GEORGIA COURT OR APPEALS, Ellington Seat

Ken Hodges (NP)

A graduate of Emory University and the University of Georgia Law School, Ken set out to become a litigator, and was elected at the age of 30 as Dougherty County’s district attorney.

Ken Shigley (NP)

A former president of the Georgia Bar Association, Shigley is originally from Douglasville.

STATE HOUSE 151

Gerald Greene, Cuthbert (R)

Greene has served 35 years in the House, making him the senior member of the GOP delegation. He is a retired educator.

Joyce Barlow (D)

Barlow is retired

STATE HOUSE 152

Ed Rynders (R)

Rynders was first sworn into the House office in 2003. He is presently serving as chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee and Secretary of the Appropriations, Health & Human Services, and Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment committees.

Mary Egler (D)

Egler, who is retired, lives in Leesburg.

Marcus Batten (D)

Batten is a farmer who lives in Lee County.

STATE HOUSE 153

Darrel Ealum (D)

Ealum is a property owner who is making his third run at the 153 seat.

CaMia Hopson (D)

Hopson is an information technology specialist at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany.

Tracy Taylor (R)

Taylor is a firefighter who is making his second run at political office.

State Rep. Winfred Dukes in House District 154 is unopposed, as are Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, District 12, and Sen. Greg Kirk, District 13.