It’s going to be a busy spring in Henry County as far as elections are concerned.
With the general primary and nonpartisan general elections scheduled for May 19, a host of candidates in a variety of local races put their names down during qualifying the week of March 2-6. A complete list of names was furnished to the Times last week by the county elections office.
The biggest logjam is in the race to succeed retiring Sheriff Keith McBrayer. Seven Democrats and three Republicans are vying for that position. The Democratic candidates are Tony Brown, Marion D. Calhoun, Curtis S. Farmer, Gazzara Ricardo Hill, Brian McGee, Reginald Scandrett, and Eric J. Wilson. The Republican candidates are Willie Brown, Kenneth Lee, and Jack Redlinger.
Three seats on the Henry County Board of Commissioners will be decided at the polls this year. The race for countywide chair consists of Republican incumbent June Wood and Democratic challenger Carlotta Harrell, so nothing will happen there until the fall. The District 1 seat will not change, as incumbent Republican Johnny Wilson is unopposed.
District 2 is another story. Democratic incumbent Dee Clemmons has two challengers in the primary: Devlin Cleveland and Tina Marie Coria. The winner of the primary will face Republican challenger Steve Richardson in the general election.
Barbara Harrison, who has been Henry County Superior Court clerk for more than a decade, qualified for re-election as a Republican and is unopposed in the primary. But two Democrats, Sabriya Hill and Vanessa W. Thomas, also qualified to that position and will ultimately be decided in November.
The only other contested partisan race is for coroner. Incumbent Donald W. Cleveland previously ran as a Republican but this year qualified as a Democrat, as did his lone challenger, Joe Mack Eckler. Incumbent tax commissioner Michael C. Harris qualified as a Democrat and has no opposition from either party.
In the nonpartisan races, which will be decided during primary season, three seats are up for grabs on the Henry County Board of Education. All three incumbents are seeking re-election, and all three have opposition.
Pam Nutt, looking to win a seventh term, faces John Dewberry in the District 1 race. Current board chair Josh Hinton is running in District 2 against Makenzie McDaniel, Sharon McMeans-Lukiri, and Gewel Richardson. In District 3, vice chair Holly Cobb is being challenged by Deborah Sykes.
Three other nonpartisan races have incumbents running unopposed: Probate Judge Kelley S. Powell, Solicitor General Pamela M. Bettis, and State Court Judge Pandora Elaine Palmer.
Runoffs for any primary or nonpartisan races will be July 21. The general election is November 3.
