Three Democrats Qualify For County Offices On Last Day Of Filing

Democrats qualified for three Oconee County offices on Friday, setting up competitive races in November for the Board of Commissioners Chair and two Board of Education posts.

Eric Gisler, co-chair of the Oconee County Democratic Party, qualified for the Chair of the Board of Commissioners, Laura Williams Ormes qualified for Post 4 on the Board of Education, and Joan Parker qualified for Post 5 on the Board of Education.

Friday was the last day of qualifying before the May 19 primaries, and since no other Democrats filed for the three positions, Gisler, Ormes and Parker will be able to move to the Nov. 3 ballot after the primary.

In contrast, incumbent Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell faces two opponents in the May 19 Republican primary.

Incumbent Post 4 Board of Education Member Tim Burgess is unchallenged in the Republican primary, but Post 5 on the Board of Education is an open seat, being vacated in December when incumbent Wayne Bagley, also a Republican, steps down.

Two candidates–Michael Ransom and Adam Spence–have qualified for the Republican primary for the Post 5 spot.

Incumbent Board of Education Chair Tom Odom has no opposition in the Republican primary. Since no Democrat filed for that race, Odom also will be unopposed in November unless someone files an affidavit by March 18 regarding the notice of intention to be a Write-In Candidate.

Oconee County voters cast 88 Democratic ballots and 39 Republican ballots on Friday in early voting for the March 24 presidential primary, bringing the total number of ballots cast in the first week of early voting to 613. Of those 369 were Democratic ballots and 244 were Republican ballots.

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