As I’ve said before, the Fannin County Republican primary is usually the county election, although the Democrats are contesting three seats this year. Dixie Carter is running for Post I Commissioner, and Kathy Smyth and T.C. Dillard, are running for school board.
In the race for County Chairman, Stan Helton pulled 1,554 votes, Vincent Davis got 1,012, Jamie Hensley got 2,707, and Bill Simonds got 1,312.
There will be a runoff between Stan Helton and Jamie Hensley on August 11th.
I think you can still register to vote in the runoff by July 14, but I haven’t been able to confirm that. You can vote in the runoff even if you didn’t vote in the primary. In fact, in that case you can choose to vote either Republican or Democratic ballots. If you voted in the primary, you must vote the same ticket in the runoff. I believe there will be early voting for the runoff. I’m told that if you checked the “65 or older” box on your absentee ballot request for the primary, that you will automatically receive a absentee ballot for the runoff. I suppose others will have to request an absentee ballot for the runoff. The election office is 706.632.7740.
That will be the only runoff, as the other results were clear cut.
For Post I, Susan Hayes pulled 1,854, Debi Holcomb got 818, and Johnny Scearce got 3,818. I am told that Scearce does not have to resign his position as Blue Ridge Chief of Police To to serve on the Commission.
For School Board, Terry Bramlett got 4,812 and Greg Staffins got 1,590.
Also for School Board, Lewis DeWeese got 3,743 and Lorraine Painter got 2,628.
For County Surveyor, Shelly Bishop got 4,505 and Sam Walker got 1,832.
For Coroner, Becky Callihan got 4,885 and Billy Standridge got 1,590.
All other county positions were unopposed.
The General Election on November November 3 will also include the Special Election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Johnny Isakson.
In terms of the Fannin races, Democrat Dixie Carter will face Johnny Scearce for Post I, Democrat Kathy Smith will face Lewis DeWeese for School Board, and Democrat T.C. Dillard will face Chad Galloway for School Board.
I’ll try to verify the information I’m not sure about with the Election Office, but I’m going to leave Mary Ann Conner and Chuck Cook, the Election Office employees, alone for a day or two. I hear they were there late last night, and they’ve both been working long hours to prepare for what was bound to be a difficult election, with many more absentees than normal, and the stress of preparing the precincts for new voting machines. With the results of the statewide races in limbo, they deserve a lot of credit for being able to post our results in a timely fashion. They both deserve our thanks and support.