Oconee County Democrats used their meeting last month to introduce the declared candidates for U.S. Congressional District 10, for Georgia Senate District 46, and for Georgia House District 120 in the May primaries next year.
The candidates were buoyed by the party’s success in the statewide Public Service Commission races on Nov. 4 as well as by Democratic successes that same day in gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey.
The party’s only declared candidate in the May primary for the 121st House District, Eric Gisler, wasn’t present at the November party meeting because he was with Democrats in Clarke County that night.
Gisler had announced his plans to run next year for the party’s nomination for Georgia House District 121, but he declared for that seat in the special election on Dec. 9 after incumbent Republican Marcus Wiedower stepped down.
Gisler went on to win that race against Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest IV by increasing his vote percentage from his 2024 contest with Wiedower by 9.5 percentage points in Oconee County, 17.6 percentage points in Clarke County, and 12.0 percentage points in the 121st House District overall.
Congressional District 10 candidate Lexy Doherty, Senate District 46 candidate William Golden, and House District 120 candidate Suzanna Karatassos at the November meeting expressed optimism about their and their party’s prospects next November, with Karatassos being particularly clear on that point.
Karatassos said she didn’t need to win in Oconee County to win in the 120th House District. Instead, she said, she needed to increase her vote percentage in the county–as Gisler demonstrated was possible 19 days later.
Karatassos, drawing from the campaigns in Virginia, New Jersey, as well as the mayoral race in New York, said her campaign is focused on affordability.
She also went out of her way to embrace the Athens community, in contrast with House District 120 incumbent Houston Gaines, who often is openly critical of Athens-Clarke County, even though he lives there. Gaines will serve in the General Assembly next year but then step down to run for Congress in the 10th District.
Lexi Doherty
So far, Doherty, Golden, Karatassos, and Gisler are the only declared candidates for the Democratic Party nominations for the Congressional, State Senate, and State House seats, but qualification is not until March 2 to 6 for the May 19 party primaries.
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| Doherty 11/20/2025 |
Doherty ran for and won the party nomination to compete with incumbent Republican Mike Collins in 2024, and she received 37.0 percent of the vote, an increase from the 35.5 percent that Democratic Party nominee Tabitha Johnson-Green received in a contest with Collins in 2022.
Doherty exaggerated the difference between her and Johnson-Green’s numbers, but she said that the increase indicated that “the people of this District are ready for some change. I think we've got the right message. I think I'm the right candidate.”
So far Gaines is the only declared candidate for the Republican Party nomination for the 10th Congressional District. The District stretches across 20 counties and includes all of Oconee County.
“The big reason I decided to run in the first place is I think most of our representatives up in D.C. are pretty wildly out of touch with what it's like to be just a regular person trying to get by,” Doherty said told the Oconee County Democrats at their Nov. 20 meeting.
“I'm 32, about to turn 33 next month,” she continued, “and so basically my whole life I've watched recession after recession. I've watched the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, and the value of our dollar gets smaller and smaller and smaller.”
“So, people have to work harder to get the same thing, and I think it should be kind of the other way around,” Doherty said.
Doherty said she is in favor of universal heath care, developing “a really intense literacy program,” rebuilding the federal Department of Education, and “making sure that there is equality in education.”
Doherty, a geologist by training and resident of Athens-Clarke County, lists her occupation as educational consultant. She said her web site is https://www.lexydoherty.com/.
William Golden
Golden, who also is from Athens-Clarke County, noted that the 46th Senate District is large, creating challenges in his campaign.
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| Golden 11/20/2025 |
The District includes all of Oconee County and parts of Clarke, Walton, Gwinnett, and Barrow Counties. (Golden mistakenly said all of Walton is in the District, but Walton is divided between Senate Districts 42 and 46.)
Golden said he is focusing on three issues in his campaign, education, health care, and affordable housing.
He said he is putting his attention on “keeping people safe, our children safe in their schools.”
“I'm looking at things that help us purchase homes,” he added.
He said he also wanted to make it easier for people to vote.
Golden said he is a funeral director and has lived in Athens-Clarke County since 2001.
He said his web site will be at electwilliamgolden.com.
Suzanna Karatassos
Karatassos said she grew up in Athens and went to Clarke Central High School.
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| Karatassos 11/20/2025 |
She want to college in Savannah, where she earned a degree in fashion design and launched her career in the apparel industry. She has worked in various locations in this country and in Europe. She said her husband is a banker.
Karatassos said she and her husband moved to Jackson County after COVID adversely affected her job in Europe to be closer to her family and to start her own family. She now is working in content creation for social media.
Karatassos said her daughter just turned three in August and “she is the light of our life. She's the sweetest, most adorable thing...She is definitely one of the reasons I decided to run.”
“I do feel like part of the reason we lost (in 2024) is because the Republicans won the social media battle,” Karatassos said.
“It wasn't our policy that lost. It was our messaging,” she said. “The thing to do now is to run on affordability.”
“I'm letting the Republicans do some of my work for me,” she said. "It's easy to run when you say, These people are screwing up your life. They took your healthcare away. They don't want to feed you. They're taking your public funding for education away. Your local hospital is closing.”
“This community means a lot to me, and that's why when I came here I wanted to do something to help,” Karatassos said.
The 120th House District includes the Northeast Precinct in Oconee County and parts of Clarke, Barrow, and Jackson counties.
“I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she has rights,” she said. “Where she has rights for her own body. Where she can vote. She's not questioned.”
“Oconee County, it's a red county, and I don't expect it to flip blue next November,” Karatassos said. “What we need to do is just pick up a couple points.”
Her web site is https://suzannaforstatehouse.com/.
Video
I was not able to attend the Democratic Party meeting on Nov. 20 at the Oconee County Library in Wire Park in Watkinsville.
Doug Elstad used my camera and tripod to record the video below for me.
Elstad said he did not take a count of those at the meeting, but he estimated that about 30 to 35 people were present.
Lexi Doherty begins at 0:52 in the video.
Golden begins his comments after the introduction at 22:37 in the video.
Karatassos began her comments at 32:22 in the video.
The Oconee County Republican Party held meetings on Nov. 17 and on Dec. 1 to give candidates an opportunity to speak.
Kathy Hurley, Oconee County Republican Party Chair, will not allow me to record party meetings, but I did write a story based on my notes from party of the Nov. 17 meeting.
I plan to write additional stories in the future based on the other speakers at the two meetings.
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