Secretary Of State Kemp Announces Special Elections For Oconee County House Districts

**Nov. 7 Election**

NOTE: Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced on Sept. 8 that qualifying for the Special Election on Nov. 7 will be held from from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 13 and 14 and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 15 in the Secretary of State’s Office. Gov. Nathan Deal announced just after noon on Sept. 10 that all Georgia government offices will be closed on Sept. 11 and 12. As of 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 10, Oconee County government offices remain open on Sept. 11. UPDATE: Oconee County Offices will be closed on Sept. 11.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp today announced special elections on Nov. 7 for both of Oconee County’s state House of Representatives districts.

Qualifying will be held Sept. 11 to Sept. 13 at the Elections Division Office of the Secretary of State in Atlanta. Qualifying fee is $400.

A runoff, if necessary, will be held on Dec. 5.

Tuesday, Oct. 10, will be the last day for voters to register for the election. Advance in-person absentee voting will begin on Oct. 16.

The elections will be held to fill the unexpired term of Rep. Regina Quick for the 117th House District and the unexpired term of Rep. Chuck Williams for the 119th House District.

Announced Candidates

Three candidates have indicated they plan to run for the 117th.

Kemp From Web Site

Doug McKillip and Houston Gaines have indicated they will run as Republicans. McKillip lives in Oconee County, and Gaines lives in Athens-Clarke County.

Deborah Gonzalez has said she will run as a Democrat. Gaines lives in Athens-Clarke County.

The 117th includes three precincts from Oconee County, Athens Academy, Malcom Bridge and Bogart, and parts of Barrow, Clarke and Jackson counties

Marcus Wiedower and Tom Lord have indicated they will run in the 119th House District, both as Republicans.

Steven Strickland has indicated he will run either as a Republican or as an independent.

Lord, Strickland and Wiedower are from Oconee County.

The 119th consists of the remaining 10 precincts in Oconee County and the southeastern part of Clarke County.

Appointments

The 117th House District seat became vacant after Aug. 23 when Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Quick to the Superior Court from the Western Judicial Circuit, which includes Oconee and Clarke counties.

The 119th became vacant after Aug. 28 when Gov. Deal appointed Williams as director of the Georgia Forestry Commission.

Both Quick and Williams are Republicans, and their terms expire at the end of 2018.

No primaries will be held prior to the special election on Nov. 7, and qualified candidates can simply pick a party they wish to have listed after their name.

Candidates run against each other, and, if none of the candidates in the 117th or 119th gets more than 50 percent of the vote cast, a runoff election will be held on the Dec. 5 date.

Announcement Date

Kemp posted the announcement of the special elections on his web site late today, but the notice is dated Sept. 5.

Gov. Deal had to call the election, and no announcement of that call had been posted on the governor’s office web site as of the end of the day today.

Kemp also announced special elections to fill the unexpired House of Representatives terms of Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans, who are running for Governor as Democrats.

He also announced specials to fill the unexpired Senate terms of Hunter Hill and Vincent Fort.

Hill is running for Governor as a Republican. Fort, a Democrat, is running for Mayor of Atlanta.

Note: Gov. Deal issued the writs of election for both the 117th and the 119th on Aug. 28. The news releases from his office did not mention these actions. I thank the person who sent me the links to these orders after I posted. Also, I mistyped the names of both Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans in the original post. I apologize for the error.