Four More Qualify For Oconee County Offices; No Democrats Filed

Four more candidates qualified for Oconee County offices Wednesday and Thursday, providing a second candidate in the race for Sheriff, a third candidate for Board of Commissioners Chair, a second candidate for Post 1 on the Board of Commissioners–all in the Republican Primary--and a third candidate for the nonpartisan Probate Court Judge race.

James Hale joined Jimmy Williamson in the race to replace retiring Sheriff Scott Berry. Both filings were expected, as the two have been campaigning for months for the May 19 primary and yard signs are already spread around the county.

Carol Bennett filed for Chair of the Board of Commissioners, joining incumbent John Daniell and Johnny Pritchett, who filed on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

Jonathan Laster qualified for Post 1 on the Board of Commissioners. Incumbent Mark Thomas had qualified on Monday.

James Williams qualified for Probate Court Judge, joining George Roberts who qualified on Monday and Mike Hunsinger who qualified on Tuesday. The three meet in the nonpartisan race on May 19, with the top two going to a runoff if no candidates gets more than 50 percent of the vote.

No Democrat has qualified for any of the Oconee County offices, with deadline for filing and qualifying at noon on Friday.

Tim Burgess remains unopposed in seeking the Republican nomination for Post 4 on the Board of Education, and incumbents Coroner Ed Carson, Clerk of Superior Court Angela Elder-Johnson, and Tax Commissioner Jennifer Riddle so far have no opposition.

After the fourth day of early voting for the March 24 presidential primary, 486 of the county’s 30,265 voters have cast a ballot, with 281 using a Democratic ballot and 205 using a Republican ballot.

For more details on qualifying and early voting, please go to Oconee County Observations.