Qualifying ends today at noon for Stephens County posts

Qualifying in Stephens County ends today at noon.

Qualifying for Republican candidates will be held at Bross, McAllister, and Williams located at 268 Broad Street, in Toccoa. Qualifying for Democratic and nonpartisan candidates will take place at the Stephens County Historic Courthouse in the Elections Office, at 37 W. Tugalo Street, in Toccoa.

As of Thursday, there have been several candidates qualify for the various eligible posts.

For the Stephens County Board of Commissioners, incumbent James Addison, Russ Addison, Jesse Pitts, and Chris Rickman have qualified for Post 4; Chuck Wright has qualified for Post 5; and Dennis Black, Paresh Pattel, Craig Beatty, Bo Webb, Craig Oglesby, Lawrence Krul, Tara Simmons and Kathy Pauly have all qualified for Post 1

For the Stephens County Board of Education, Incumbent Travis Dobbs and Shantelle Grant have qualified for District 2 Post 2, Incumbent Jim Bellamy and Amber Gilbert have qualified for District 1 Post 2, Incumbent Kay Reed has qualified for District 3 Post 2. Tripp Arrowood has qualified for District 2 Post 1.

Incumbent Lakie Meeks has qualified for the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

As a reminder, there are three posts on the Stephens County Board of Commissioners that residents can qualify for. Those include Post 1, currently held by Commissioner Michelle Ivester; Post 4, currently held by James Addison; and Post 5, currently held by Commissioner Dean Scarborough. The qualifying fee for the Stephens County Board of Commissioners’ posts is $360.

The Stephens County Board of Education has four posts that residents can qualify for. Those include District 1 Post 2, currently held by Bellamy; District 2 Post 1, currently held by Vice Chair Rod Moore; District 2 Post 2, currently held by Dobbs; and District 3 Post 1, currently held by Reed. The qualify fee for the Board of Education is $36.

The Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission will have three, nonpartisan District Supervisor posts residents can qualify for. Those posts are currently held by Roger Shepard, Meeks, and Russell Biggers.

For the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission candidates must have a least 25 signatures from qualified electors of the county. Petitions may be obtained from the Conservation Commission’s website at gaswcc.org or from the Stephens County Elections Office. There is no qualifying fee for the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

Again, Qualifying will run today from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. For questions regarding qualifying contact the Elections Office by calling 706-886-8954.