Hull touts June 16 city council election

“We would love to have them be recognized so that people can see that, hey, Hull is really beginning to have interest in the political field,” Mayor Paul Elkins said.

Fortson and King are vying for a council seat left open since September. This election is Hull’s first contested council race since 2003. That doesn’t include Hull’s November mayoral race, which Elkins won by six votes.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 16 at the Hull Civic Center.

Early voting is June 2 and June 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hull Civic Center.

The city tried, to no avail, in March to hold a special election but lured two candidates this time around.

“The election is ready to proceed,” Elkins said. “May the better man win, whoever gets out and works the hardest.”

Whoever prevails, Hull’s next councilman will be the youngest elected person countywide.

Both candidates are under 25, a rarity in local elections.

Fortson works for the Athens-Clarke County Fire Department. King studies political science at Piedmont College.

Both live in Hull’s Hidden Falls subdivision, a neighborhood that constitutes a significant portion of the small city’s population.

At least one candidate will attempt to use Saturday’s festival to bolster his campaign with King reserving a booth to distribute material and answer questions, Elkins said.

“Which I think is a great idea,” he said.