May 24 Georgia election will shape local government, midterm ballot. Here's what to know
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The busiest places in Georgia this May have been early voting locations.
More than 330,000 Georgians cast advance ballots in the first two weeks of early voting in the Republican and Democratic primaries and nonpartisan general election. The turnout has elections officials forecasting high traffic at election day polling places on May 24.
Commanding the most voter interest are fiery GOP feuds – 3 in 5 early voters have cast Republican ballots. The lopsided turnout is not surprising, as nearly all the GOP primary races are competitive while the highest-profile Democratic candidates are running either unopposed or against token competition.
Polling places: Columbia County | Richmond County
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Augusta to choose its next mayor
Augusta voters will select a replacement for term-limited Mayor Hardie Davis among the nine candidates in the nonpartisan race. Four of the candidates have held elected office – Charlie Hannah, A.K. Hasan, Steven Kendrick and Marion Williams. Political newcomers Donald Bradshaw, Robert Ingham, Garnett Johnson, Lucas Johnson and Lori Myles are also on the ballot.
Five Augusta Commission seats are also up for a vote and all but one – Commissioner Brandon Garrett's District 8 seat – are contested. Six candidates are running in District 2, two in District 4, and three each in District 6 and Super District 10.
In Columbia County, voters will decide on its District 4 Commission seat and on two of its school board races. For the commission seat, first-term Commissioner Dewey Galeas, a retired Army officer and nurse anesthetist, faces Alison Couch, a lifelong resident and small-business owner.
The only competitive local primary for state legislature is in Georgia House District 132, where Democratic incumbent Brian Prince faces challenger Traci 'Acree' George.
Other contested local races include Richmond County civil and magistrate court, Richmond County State Court judge and two Augusta Circuit Superior Court judges.
2020 election bleeds over to 2022
Georgians elect state constitutional officers during the midterm cycle, and the 2022 primary is a reflection of the 2020 election results.
On the GOP side, voters have strong feelings about former President Donald Trump and his assault on Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for not backing the former president's false claims about a rigged election. Trump has endorsed candidates in six statewide races.
For the Democrats, their candidates winning two Senate races and the presidential count has united voters around renewed hopes for capturing state offices. The 2020 victories were the first statewide wins for Democrats since the early-2000s.
GOP ballot a Trump referendum?
The Trump vendetta defines the Georgia Republican primary.
Trump coaxed one-time Kemp ally, former Sen. David Perdue, to enter the governor's race. Another Trump acolyte, Congressman Jody Hice, is running for secretary of state. Other Trump-endorsed candidates are Herschel Walker for U.S. Senate, Burt Jones for lieutenant governor, John Gordon for attorney general and Patrick Witt for insurance commissioner.
Ballots cast early are not counted until election day, so it's unknown if Trump's participation is helping or harming candidates. Georgia is an open primary state, meaning voters don't have to be registered members of a political party to vote in that party's primary.
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With few competitive races on the Democratic side, a significant number of independents and Democrats are taking GOP ballots to vote against Trump candidates. According to a data analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, approximately 7% or 16,000 of the early voters in the GOP primary pulled a Democratic ballot in the 2020 election.
Democrats lining up for the fall
The Democrats' focus for the primary is on the November general election.
Their champion, Stacey Abrams, is running unopposed for governor in the primary and Sen. Raphael Warnock drew an opponent he is out-polling by 80 percentage points. High-profile candidates are heavy favorites in down-ballot races, including Jen Jordan for attorney general, Bee Nguyen for secretary of state and Charlie Bailey for lieutenant governor.
Democratic candidates ran strong four years ago, with Abrams losing to Kemp by 55,000 votes and John Barrow falling in a runoff for secretary of state.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta area, GA primary election races: What to know for election day
