More than 300 people turned out Saturday for a four-hour-long Democratic Party Voter Fair at the Oconee County Civic Center on Hog Mountain Road sponsored by the Democratic Party Committees of Congressional District 10 and hosted by the Oconee County Democratic Party Committee.
Candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State School Superintendent, Labor Commissioner, and the Public Service Commission spoke and answered questions.
All three of the candidates seeking the party nomination for Congressional District 10 also spoke and answered questions, as did both of the candidates seeking the party nomination for State Senate District 46. Oconee County falls entirely in Congressional District 10 and State Senate District 46.
Candidates running unopposed in seven different State House Districts also spoke briefly, including State House District 120 candidate Suzanna Karatassos and incumbent State House District 121 Rep. Eric Gisler, who is seeking reelection. Parts of Oconee County fall into these two districts.
Two of the four persons challenging incumbent Supreme Court and Appellate Court judges on the nonpartisan ballot for the May 19 election also attended and spoke. The incumbents all were appointed by Republican governors.
Early voting starts at 8 a.m. on Monday (April 27) at the Oconee County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville, for the May 19 primaries and nonpartisan judicial races and runs to May 15, with Saturday voting on May 2 and May 9. No voting will be held on Sundays.
The final item on the ballot is the referendum on renewal of the county’s 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) . The SPLOST referendum as well as the nonpartisan races appear on the Democratic Party Ballot, the Republican Party Ballot, and the Nonpartisan Ballot, with the outcome final on May 19.
The Oconee County Republican Party is holding its final Cavalcade of Candidates starting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday (April 27) at the Piedmont Oconee Health Campus, 1305 Jennings Mill Road. Five candidates are scheduled to speak.
Program Format
The main auditorium of the Civic Center consisted of two sections for the meeting on Saturday.
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| Candidate Tables |
At the front of the room, facing the podium, were rows of seats for those wishing to listen to the candidates. At one point, 56 people were seated in that section, but people came and left as the flow of candidates changed.
At the rear and along the sides were tables for candidates who displayed campaign materials and were available to talk with voters.
Oconee County Democratic Party Chair Harold Thompson said that the number of candidates who turned out was greater than expected, and some candidates had to share a table.
This was the second Candidate Fair organized for the 10th Congressional District, Thompson said, with the first four years ago held in downtown Athens. Fewer candidates attended that Fair, Thompson said.
Rep. Gisler, in comments he made during the program, said that the party has been aggressive this year in recruiting candidates, and Democratic candidates are running in 158 of the 180 races for House of Representatives.
Entry for the Candidate Fair was free, and a total of 220 persons signed in on sheets as they entered the room during the four-hour session, which started at 2 p.m. Another 40 volunteers from the county parties organizing the even were present.
Thirty-two candidates spoke. They didn’t sign in on the entry sheets for general attendees, and only some of their representatives did so, according to the organizers.
All candidates for the statewide races were invited, and many of those who didn’t attend for one reason or another sent a representative who had a table with campaign signs and other materials.
I video recorded the entire session, and at least two other persons recorded at least parts of it.
The Oconee County Republican Party hosted an event labeled “The Oconee Stumping Ground: The Road To The GOP Nomination Runs Through Oconee County,” from 4 to 9 p.m. on March 21at the Thomas Cotton Gin south of Watkinsville. Tickets, which included a dinner, were $25.
Oconee County Party Chair Kathy Hurley did not allow recording of that meeting. I did not attend. Hurley reported on her party Facebook page that 186 ballots were cast in a straw poll at the event.
Comments Of Congressional Candidates
Pamela Delancy introduced herself in the session for Congressional District 10 candidates as a veteran who “served in the United States Army as an Army nurse for over 35 years. I retired from the Army in 2019.”
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| Delancy 4/25/2026 |
“I have called Henry County, McDonough, Georgia, my home in District 10 for over 23 years,” she added.
“My platform is simple, the Constitution of the United States of America,” she said. “I believe in democracy. I am running for democracy. I am running for humanity."
"If we become a dictatorship, you are nothing," Delancy said. "You will take orders from someone else. You will no longer have any rights. So we, as American citizens, have to stand up for our country.”
Lexi Doherty, from Athens-Clarke County, said “before becoming a full-time candidate, I worked in education. It was my job to help high schoolers apply to college.”
“I looked around and I saw that so many of our representatives in Washington are bought by corporations,” she said. “They're bought by billionaires. They answer to their donors instead of their constituents. And I decided I would like to see representatives who are going to do more to fight for our working families.”
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| Doherty 4/25/2026 |
“I'm running for workers,” she said. “We need to raise the minimum wage. I think there should be no such thing as the working poor. If you work a full-time job, you should be able to afford a roof over your head. You should be able to put food on the table. You should be able to afford healthcare and education for your family.”
John Dority, a retired engineer from Oglethorpe County, said “We have a crisis in this country that we haven't had in a century or centuries, and we've got to correct that. So the eye on the ball right now is just getting people into office.”
“I've been around the block about 20 times,” he said. “I was here for the first Middle East war with the first Bush. I was here for the second Middle East war with the second Bush. And here we are in the third Middle East war, and it's under the same premise, worried about nuclear weapons. They lie about everything there is out there. And we're supposed to solve this once again.”
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| Dority |
“If I get elected, one of the main reasons I'm going to be there is to hold both Republicans accountable and Democrats,” he said.
Comments Of Senate District 46 Candidates
William Gaulden, running for Senate District 46, is a mortician in Athens-Clarke County, and he said “My biggest thing would be affordable homes, making sure we all have a house. It shouldn't be a privilege to have your own home. It should be your human right to have it.”
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| Gaulden 5/25/2026 |
“For a safe school, they have to give them better educational standards,” he added.
Ray Smith, a software engineer from Oconee County, said “We've let corporations squeeze us from all sides for too long. And as a result, we've seen prices rise, the cost of healthcare, the cost of childcare, the cost of groceries, gas prices, and enough is enough.”
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| Smith 5/25/2026 |
“We've also seen attacks from our Georgia legislature--attacking our rights, our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but above all, our right to vote, the most sacred of our democratic privileges.”
“We can feel that blue wave coming, can't we?” he asked. “This blue wave will wash away the past sins of Georgia and give the people of this great state the opportunity to take a new breath.”
Comments Of House Candidates
Gisler told the audience “I work for an insurance tech startup, and then I also own a gourmet food store in downtown Athens. It's The Olive Basket.”
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| Karatassos 5/25/2026 |
Karatassos said “I am a political content creator. I used to be in the apparel industry, but after COVID, I switched to content creation full-time.”
Moderator Congressman John Barrow asked the pair what “is one issue that you are passionate about being engaged with when you go to the Golden Dome?”
“My main issue is affordable for families, and also protecting women and children,” Karatassos said. “So that looks like expanding Medicaid, universal childcare, free school lunches, and just doing everything we can to protect women and children.”
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| Gisler 5/25/2026 |
“It's hard to narrow that to one issue,” Gisler said, “but if I had to pick one, honestly, I would say independent redistricting. Because if we can redistrict in this state, and we have districts that people actually have to compete for, it holds everyone in elected office accountable.”
“And once we get that, then it's the key to unlock all the other issues,” he said, “and we can build amazing progress.”
Video
The two videos below are unedited recordings of the Democratic Party Voter Fair.
The first video, before a mid-session pause, includes:
House Candidates Hope Beard (HD 123) and Melanie Miller (HD 124) at 7:55 in the video.
Supreme Court candidate Jen Jordan at 16:44.
Lt. Governor candidates Richard Wright and Josh McLaurin at 44:05.
Congressional District 10 candidates Pamela “Pam” Delancy, Alexandra “Lexy” Doherty, and John Dority at 1:11:24.
Senate District candidates Catie Young (SD 24), Lorraine Violet Thomas (SD 24), Anthony Scott Tippetts (SD 45), William Gaulden (SD 46), Ray Smith (SD 46), and Justin Grant Gillespie (SD 47) at 1:34:48.
Public Service Commission candidates Shelia Edward and Angelia Pressley at 1:44:03.
Gubernatorial candidates Olu Brown and Derrick Jackson at 1:49:31.
The second video includes:
Secretary of State candidate Adrian Consonery Jr. at 0:56.
Superintendent Of Schools candidates Anton Anthony, Lydia Powell, Otha Thornton at 23:04.
Attorney General candidates Tanya Miller and Robert “Bob” Trannell at 40:55.
Appellate Court candidate Will Wooton at 1:07:47:
House Candidates Michael Caw (HD 114), Jodi Lewis (HD 118), Catherine Morris (HD 119), Suzanna Karatassos (HD 120), and Eric Gisler (HD 121) at 1:20:00.
Labor Commissioner candidates Jason Moon, Michelle Michi Sanchez, Brett Hulme at 1:30:30.
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