Incumbents On County Ballot In May Primaries Get Challengers

Three incumbents whose names will be on the Oconee County ballot for the May 22 primary elections picked up challengers in qualifying on Wednesday.

Joe Hunt, an Oconee County businessman, filed to run in the Republican primary against U.S. Representative Jody Hice.

One Republican and two Democrats already had filed to run against Hice for the 10th Congressional District position on the first two days of qualifying Monday and Tuesday.

Marisue Hilliard qualified as a Democrat on Wednesday to run against incumbent Bill Cowsert for the Senate District 46 seat. Hilliard is a former U.S. National Forest supervisor who lives in the south of Oconee County.

Jonathan Laster, an attorney, qualified to run as a Republican for Post 3 on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners. Incumbent Commissioner William “Bubber” Wilkes qualified on Monday to run for re-election in the Republican primary.

For more on the story, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Marisue Hilliard and Bill Cowsert.