Oconee County Republican Party Chair Kathy Hurley has been relentless in encouraging party members to vote in the Dec. 9 House District 121 Special Election.
At the party meeting on Monday, Hurley lamented the 41.2 and 41.8 percent of the vote that Democratic Public Service Commission candidates Alicia M. Johnson and Peter Hubbard respectively received in the county in the Nov. 4 election and said Republicans need to turn out to make sure a Democrat does not win on Dec. 9.
Hurley posts daily on the party Facebook page the tallies for early voting, encouraging those who come to the page to cast a ballot before election day on Dec. 9.
On Wednesday morning, she added a new twist in the message.
“A slice of the People’s Republic of Clarke County is also part of HD 121,” she warned her followers.
Democrat Eric Gisler reacted to Hurley’s Facebook post by calling it “hateful division aimed at our neighbors and district-mates in Athens.”
Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest chose not to provide his reaction to the post.
For whatever reason, turnout after three days of early voting is running higher in Oconee County than in Clarke County. In Oconee County, 3.4 percent of the 27,045 eligible voters have cast a ballot, while in Clarke County 1.3 percent of the 15,527 eligible voters have cast a ballot.
Hurley On Turnout
Hurley is correct in saying that the Republican dominated General Assembly "sliced" up Democratic Clarke County into four Georgia House districts and two Georgia Senate districts. Clarke County Democratic voters are spread into five Republican-dominated districts, leaving the county with only one Democrat in the General Assembly.
 |
| Hurley Facebook Post 11/19/2025 |
The Northeast Precinct in Oconee County is part of the 120th House District with parts of Clarke, Barrow, and Jackson County.
The 121st House District consists of Oconee’s Central, South, and Dark Corner precincts and all or part of 10 precincts in Clarke County.
In terms of eligible registered voters, Oconee County makes up 63.5 percent of House District 121.
In discussing the Public Service Commission race at the Republican Party meeting on Monday, Hurley said “In Oconee County we are conservative. We are Republican, and it didn’t show at the polls.”
She blamed that on turnout, saying “of our targeted hard Rs, out of 6,700 we had 3,000 that did not vote.” Voters do not register by party in Georgia, but the parties classify voters based on the ballots they pick in the primaries.
In her Facebook post on Wednesday morning, Hurley wrote: “Ladies and gentlemen of Oconee County, please be advised that not all votes in the HD 121 race will come from Oconee County.”
“A slice of the People’s Republic of Clarke County is also part of HD 121,” she continued. “What does that mean to you? Well if you sit this one out it could mean a liberal Democrat as your next state representative.”
“The only way we can keep that from happening is to swamp the vote with Oconee Republican votes,” she wrote. “That means we need YOU to go VOTE! Why wait? Go today!!!
Response From Candidates
I sent an email message to Guest at 1:10 p.m. today (Wednesday), using both his business and campaign email addresses.
I followed with a text messages at 1:20 p.m., 6:51 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. All are shown on my phone as “delivered.”
I never received any response from Guest.
I followed with a phone call to the phone number he gave out at the meeting on Monday at 9:20 p.m. and left a voice mail message when he did not pick up the call.
I sent an email message to Gisler at 1:14 p.m. today and sent a text message at 1:21 p.m.
Gisler responded immediately to the text saying he would respond to the email in “a couple of hours.”
He responded at 6:17 p.m.
In each case, I had sent the candidates a copy of Hurley’s post.
Gisler Response
I told the candidates I intended to write something about Hurley’s post this evening and said “I have three questions I would like you to respond to."
 |
| Gisler |
Question 1. What is your reaction to this post by Party Chair Kathy Hurley?
Gisler’s responses below are unedited.
Gisler: “I think this is a perfect example of the toxic partisanship, devoid of substance, that most voters are sick and tired of. There is no policy position here, no values statements, and no positive vision for Oconee county. It is just extreme partisanship, name calling, and hateful division aimed at our neighbors and district-mates in Athens. Maybe Chair Hurley thinks that resonates with Oconee county voters, but I believe most voters - even traditional Republican voters - find it repulsive. At least I hope they do.”
Question 2. Clarke County is gerrymandered in such a way that the Democratic-voting county is represented by three Republicans and one Democrat in the Georgia House and by two Republicans in the Georgia Senate. Do you support gerrymandering for political purposes?
Gisler: “I absolutely oppose partisan gerrymandering. It is not what our founders intended, and I think it is a big reason why messages like this one are more common these days. Gerrymandered districts produce extreme candidates and extreme candidates don’t make good legislation.”
Question 3. Would you support creation of a nonpartisan redistricting commission to handle redistricting after the 2030 Census?
Gisler: "Creating a non-partisan redistributing commission these days doesn’t seem feasible. I think we need a bipartisan commission, with equal representation from both parties. Not only bipartisan, but also completely independent from the legislative body. Voters should choose representatives. Representatives should not choose their voters."
Early Voting
Early voting in Oconee County is being held at the county Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville.
Voting is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday of this week and at those same times Nov. 24 to Nov. 26 and Dec. 1 to 5.
The only opportunity for Saturday voting is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 22.
In the first three days of early voting in Oconee County, 212, 342, and 354 voters cast a ballot, resulting in the total of 908 votes cast.
Only voters in the Central, South, and Dark Corner precincts are in the 121st House District and eligible to vote in the Dec. 9 special election.
That 908 votes and 3.4 percent turnout compares with 342 votes cast after three days of early voting for the Nov. 4 election in those three precincts and a 1.2 percent turnout rate.
The final early voting turnout rate for the Nov. 4 election for Central, South, and Dark Corner precincts was 11.7 percent.
In Clarke County, early voting in the first three days was 69, 53, and 79, for the total of 201 votes and the 1.3 percent turnout.
No comments:
Post a Comment