The District 3 commissioner was the only BOC member unopposed this year. And his fellow board members faced stiff challenges Tuesday in the Madison County primary elections.
After all the votes were cast and tallied, District 1 commissioner Stanley Thomas held on to his seat by a mere 10 votes, while District 5 incumbent Bruce Scogin barely emerged from the Republican primary, edging challenger Jim Escoe by 12 votes. Scogin will face Democrat Cathy Livesay in the November general election.
In District 4, incumbent Wesley Jordan fell to former Ila Elementary principal and political newcomer Dewitt “Pete” Bond by 49 votes. Bond will move on to face former District 4 commissioner Melvin Drake, a Democrat, in the November general election.
The District 2 commissioner’s race will now go to overtime as incumbent John Pethel garnered the most votes Tuesday but failed to top 50 percent in the three-man race. Pethel, who took home 46.5 percent of the vote, will face former District 2 commissioner Johnny Fitzpatrick, who finished with 31.9 percent of the vote, in an Aug. 5 runoff. Advanced voting for that race will be held July 28-Aug. 1 in the county registrar’s office. That runoff is open to voters in District 2 precincts, including Collins, Harrison, Mill and Poca. District 2 voters who cast ballots in the Democratic primary are ineligible to vote in that race, but registered voters in the district who did not vote at all in the primaries can participate in the runoff.
A statewide runoff will also be held Aug. 5 with Democrats Vernon Jones and Jim Martin facing off in the U.S. Senate race, as both hope to face incumbent Saxby Chambliss in November.
In the Madison County Sheriff’s race, Democratic incumbent Clayton Lowe defeated Troy Asmus with 74 percent of the vote, while Republican Kip Thomas topped John Dove and Larry Smith with 56.8 percent of the vote. Lowe and Thomas will now face off in the November elections.
In the Republican race for the U.S. 10th District Congressional seat, incumbent Paul Broun routed challenger Barry Fleming, taking 76.4 percent of the vote in Madison County and 71 percent overall. He will now face Democratic challenger Bobby Saxon in November.
top and work its way down. Give the new chairman a chance
before saying it was the work of 3 commissioners that caused
Mr. Nash to be beat. By the way, learn to spell.
The election results were a clear message.