Qualifying Wraps Up Today

With just a few hours left to qualify for the May primary, there is still no candidate for the open District 1seat on the Stephens County Board of Education.

Qualifying ends at noon today for county, state, and federal races for the May primary.

Nobody has qualified yet for the school board seat that became open earlier this year when Dr. Elizabeth Pinkerton resigned.

Anyone qualifying for that seat must live in District 1 for the Board of Education, which stretches from downtown Toccoa south and west in Stephens County.

Meanwhile, Stephens County picked up its third contested county race Thursday when Ralph Stowe qualified to run against Don Tabor for the non-partisan Chief Magistrate position.

Stephens County also picked up a third candidate for the Post Two County Commission race as Kenny Yearwood has qualified to run as a Republican against Republican incumbent Debbie Whitlock and Republican challenger Jonesy Haygood.

The other contested county race is the Sheriff’s race, where Republican challenger Jim Davis is challenging Republican incumbent Sheriff Randy Shirley.

Only incumbents have qualified in the other county races, which include Post 3 County Commission, Clerk of Court, Tax Commissioner, Coroner, Probate Judge, Board of Education At-Large, Board of Education District 3, Post 2, State Court Solicitor, and State Court Judge.

At the federal level, three more candidates have qualified to run against Doug Collins for the 9th District U.S. House seat in Georgia, making it a five-person race.

They are former U.S. Representative Paul Broun, Bernie Fontaine of Suches, and Mike Scupin of Cumming.

No additional candidates qualified for state races involving Stephens County on Thursday.

Qualifying for county races takes place through noon at the Stephens County Registrar’s Office, in the Stephens County Courthouse Annex on Tugalo Street in downtown Toccoa.

Meanwhile, qualifying for state and federal races takes place in Atlanta.