Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Superior Court Judge Quick Fails In Election Bid While Superior Court Judge Norris Turns Back Challenge

***Oconee Incumbents Get Primary Support***

Lisa Lott, formerly Chief Assistant Public Defender for Clarke and Oconee counties, ousted Regina Quick as Superior Court Judge in voting Tuesday in the Nonpartisan General Judicial Election held in conjunction with the Democratic and Republican State Primary elections.

Eric Norris, holder of another Superior Court Judgeship for Clarke and Oconee counties, held off a challenge from Allison Mauldin, chief assistant district attorney for the Ocmulgee District.

Norris’ new term and Lott’s term will begin in January of 2019. The term is for four years.

Results from Clarke County appeared on the Secretary of State web site only early this morning, and Clarke County voters went strongly for Lott, overturning Quick’s support in Oconee County, where she has been housed since her appointment by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal at the end of the summer.

Oconee County Board of Commissioners member William “Bubber” Wilkes was victorious in the Republican Party Primary on Tuesday, with 71.9 percent of the vote to John Lasters' 28.1 percent.

Incumbent Board of Education Member Amy Parrish also won the Republican Party nomination for her Board seat, getting 71.0 percent of the vote to 29.0 percent for Adam Spence.

Wilkes has no Democratic opposition, so he and Chuck Horton, another Incumbent Commission Member, are guaranteed they will return to the Commission in January unless someone mounts a write-in vote campaign.

Parrish will face Democrat Anderea Wellitz on Nov. 6, and Board of Education Member Kim Argo, who had no opposition Tuesday in the Republican Primary, will face Fran Tompson, who had no opposition in the Democratic Primary.

House Races

Results from the primary for House District 119 also were uncertain until early this morning because of the lack of data from Clarke County on the Secretary of State web site.

Marcus Wiedower defeated Steven Strickland for the Republican nomination for the Georgia House District 119 seat, with 61.6 percent of the vote to 38.4.

Lisa Lott Before Oconee Democrats 4 17 2018

U.S. Representative Jody Hice handily defeated (78.9 percent of the vote) his two Republican challengers on Tuesday, Bradley Griffin (10.7 percent) and Joe Hunt (10.4 percent).

Tobitha Johnson-Green got enough votes (50.2 percent) to avoid a runoff with the two other Democrats seeking the nomination in the Democratic Primary, Challis Montgomery (26.5 percent) and Richard Dien Winfield (23.3).

Hice and Johnson-Green will meet up on Nov. 6.

Two Counties In Judicial District

The Western Judicial District includes only Clarke and Oconee counties and has four Superior Court Judges, Chief Judge H. Patrick Haggard, Norris, Lawton E. Stephens, and Quick.

Eric Norris Before Oconee Democrats 4 17 18

Lott said she was running for the judgeship to give the electorate, rather then political leaders, a chance to selects the judge. Both Norris and Quick were appointed by Republican Deal.

Quick represented the 117th House District in the Georgia General Assembly as a Republican when she stepped to submit to judicial review before appointment by Deal late last year.

In Tuesday voting, Lott got 35.2 of the votes in Oconee County and 62.2 percent in Clarke County, for a final total of 54.6 percent.

Norris got 66.1 percent of the Oconee County vote and 45.0 percent in Clarke County, for an overall vote of 51.5.

In the Lott/Quick contest, 17,334 of the votes were in Clarke County and 7,161 were in Oconee County.

In the Mauldin/Norris contest, 16,082 of the votes cast were in Clarke County, and 7,110 were in Oconee County

Statewide Races

Republicans had five candidates contending for the governorship at the top of the ballot on Tuesday while Democrats had two.

The statewide ballot has impact on Oconee County races, which historially have been decided in Republican Primaries.

In the election that ended Tuesday, voters who wanted to help decide who will be the next county Post III Commissioner had to vote in the Republican Primary, since the Democrats did not field a candidate.

Turnout in Oconee County was light, with 22.0 percent of the county’s 26,261 active registered voters turning out in early voting or on elections day.

State Senate, House Races

Neither incumbent Republican Bill Cowsert nor Democat Marisue Hilliard faced opposition in their primaries on Tuesday.

Senate District 46 contains all of Oconee County and parts of Clarke and Walton counties.

A Wiedower vs. Wallace contest is a modified replay of the special election in November of last year to fill the seated vacated by Republican Chuck Williams.

The difference is that Tom Lord, Strickland and Wiedower were all running as Republicans, while Wallace was the sole Democrat.

Even in the crowded field, Wallace got a majority of the vote. He was unopposed on the Democratic ballot on Tuesday.

All of Oconee County except for three large precincts along the Clarke County line are in the 119th House District.

The district is represesnted by Democrat Deborah Gonzalez.

Houston Gaines was unopposed on the Republican Party Ballot on Tuesday setting up a rematch of their race from last November. Gonzalez also was unopposed on Tuesday’s Democratic ballot.

Note Of Explanation

I had intended to file this update of the story I posted after midnight last night early this (Wednesday) morning after more complete data were available.

I certainly would have written a different post last night had I known that a seated judge had been defeated in a local race.

I posted the original story early this morning from my hospital room, where I have undergone a stem cell transplant.

Unexpected required medical activities today kept me from getting this update posted until now.

I apologize for the unavoidable delay.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hope all candidates remove & recycle all of their campaign signs!!

Amrey said...

Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.

mike streetman said...

Thank you lee for your diligence. Prayers your treatment went well and you are home soon all better.

Jim Gaither said...

Lee, you've spoiled us with your great coverage of local issues, but posting from your hospital bed is really going above and beyond. Thanks and best wishes that you're home soon. Be strong.