Toccoa, Martin candidate qualifying underway

Yesterday was the first day of the three-day candidate qualifying period for the upcoming Toccoa and Martin Municipal Elections. 

As of 4:30 p.m. yesterday, seven candidates had completed qualifying for the Toccoa election, and no candidates had qualified for the Martin election. 

According to Martin City Clerk Sonya Stovall, two council member seats will be up for election in the  November Martin municipal elections; the seats are currently held by Harold Alexander and Mark Gerhart. The position of Mayor of Martin is also up for election this year – the position is currently held by Don Foster. 

Martin qualifying will continue today, August 22, and tomorrow, August 23, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Town Hall, located at 3707 Historic Highway 17 in Martin. The qualifying fee for a council seat is $90 per candidate, while the qualifying fee for mayor is $144.

For Toccoa, there are two elections running simultaneously. 

In the Special election to fill the unexpired Post 3 term of Jeanette Jamieson, left vacant by her death in April, there were two candidates who qualified yesterday: Michelle Jamieson and  Gary Coretellino.

In the Toccoa Municipal general election there are three seats up for election. 

For Post 1, currently held by Terry Carter, the sole qualifier yesterday was the incumbent, Terry Carter.

For Post 2, currently held by David Austin, there were two candidates who filed to qualify yesterday – Billy Chism and Ron Matheson. 

For Post 4, currently held by Gail Fry, the incumbent filed to qualify for the election, as well as candidate Lenwood “Lenny” Cannon. 

The candidate qualifying fee for Toccoa seats is $330 per position, and qualifying will run through Wednesday. Toccoa Board of Commissioner seats are non-partisan, and commissioners serve four-year terms.

For more information on Toccoa election qualifying, contact City Clerk Freda Wheeler at (706) 282-3225 or [email protected].

For more information on Martin election qualifying, contact Sonya Stovall at (706) 779-6753. 

For other election-related questions, contact Stephens County Election Supervisor Bruce Carlisle at (706) 886-8954.