Candidates running for statewide and local positions may officially qualify this week for the 2022 election. That includes candidates for statewide office who will find themselves in a primary this May, as well as candidates for ACC Mayor and Commission, for whom the May 24 election is the main event.
As of this afternoon, qualifying Athens-Clarke County mayoral candidates include incumbent Kelly Girtz, resident Mara Zúñiga, former Clarke County School District employee Pearl Hall and property owner Fred Mooreman.
District 7 Commission candidates Allen Jones and John Culpepper will be on the ballot, as well as District 9 incumbent Commissioner Ovita Thornton. District 5 Commissioner Tim Denson – pushed out of his district and unable to run until 2024 — is running for the Board of Education.
Other local candidates who have announced campaigns were not on the qualifying list as of press time.
In the governor's race, Democrat Stacey Abrams remains uncontested in her party. She’ll likely be up against Gov. Brian Kemp or Sen. David Perdue in November. Republican candidate and Commissioner of Agriculture, Gary Black, is running against U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock. Former UGA football standout Herschel Walker is also expected to qualify to challenge Warnock.
The race for Secretary of State remains largely in Republican hands, with incumbent Brad Raffensberger currently up against U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, Atlanta-area politician David Belle Isle and other candidates.
With Hice leaving Georgia’s 10th congressional district, that position is up for re-election as well. Former Congressman Paul Broun is running again in this district.
Qualifying will take place until noon Friday, and opened at 9 a.m. this morning.
