By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MARCH 18, 2022 | This year is going to be a hot season in Gwinnett politically, as 117 persons are candidates for local office. Wow. So many!
Lots of offices have several candidates. Out of all the many seats open, four legislative candidates have no opposition at all, meaning they’ll be back for the 2023 General Assembly without having to pound the pavement for votes. Those four lucky ones are all Democrats, long-time serving Rep. Dewey McClain of Lilburn; newcomer Rep. Marvin Lim of Norcross; Rep. Karen Bennett of Stone Mountain; and newcomer state senator Nikki Merritt of Grayson.
They join three local judges who will have no opposition in the May 25 non-partisan election without opposition: Superior Court Judges George F. Hutchison and Tracey Mason plus State Court Judge Ronda Colvin Leary.
Three Superior Court judges have opposition. Judge Tracie Cason has opposition from Andre Johnson; Judge Tim Hamil will face Karen Scott Greene; and Judge Angela Duncan has opposition from BT Parker. In State Court, three candidates are seeking to win the seat now held by Judge Pamela South, who is retiring. They are Erica Dove, Matt Miller and Elaine Amankwah Nietmann.
In a race for Solicitor General, two Democrats face one another. The current office holder, Brian Whiteside, has opposition from Lisamarie Bristol.
Check this out: there are 25 seeking seats in the U.S. Congress, running in three different districts. You read it right: 25 people seeking three seats.
Sixth District has nine Republicans running and two Democrats. We know little about these candidates, and hope to learn more in the coming weeks. Republicans running include Jake Evans of Roswell; Byron Gatewood, Meagan Hanson of Brookhaven; Blake Harbin of Alpharetta; Rick McCormick of Suwanee; Paulette Smith of Kennesaw; Mallory Staples of Alpharetta; Suzi Voyles of Atlanta; and Eugene Yu of Alpharetta. This seat is currently held by Democrat Lisa McCoy, a Democrat, who chose to run this year in the Seventh District. (Note that some candidates did not list where they live.)
The majority of Gwinnett is in the Seventh District. Altogether there are eight candidates running for this seat in Congress, a post held now by Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux of Suwanee, who is seeking re-election. Former Sixth District Congressman Lucy McBath is also seeking this seat in a new district for her. State Rep. Donna McLeod of Lawrenceville, is also running for this post.
On the Seventh District Republican side, the five candidates are Michael Corbin of Peachtree Corners; Mark Gonsalves of Norcross; Lisa McCoy; YG Nyghstrom; and Mary West of Norcross.
In the Ninth Congressional District, of which the northwest portion of Gwinnett is included, there are six candidates. Mike Ford is the only Democrat seeking this post. The five Republican candidates are Michael Boggus; Andrew Clyde of Jefferson, currently a Congressman in another district; J. Gregory Howard of Lawrenceville; John London; and Ben Souther of Murrayville.
In state legislative races, it’ll be mostly quiet during the primary, as 19 of 27 races have only one candidate of each party; and four races have only one Democratic candidate. That leaves only four legislative races with more than two candidates.
Redistricting has caused some interesting races. In new House District 100, there are three candidates. Two current Republicans legislators, Rep. Bonnie Rich and Rep. David Clark, will face each other for the GOP nomination. They will face Democrat Louisa Shell Jackson in November.
Two current Democratic legislators will vie for their party’s nomination in District 106. They are Rep. Shelly Hutchinson and Rep. Rebecca Mitchell. The winner will take on Republican Preston Wren in November.
- To see a full list of candidates in Gwinnett, go to click here.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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