Democrats qualify for legislative seats held by Jasperse, Payne

Published 5:46 pm Thursday, March 8, 2018

Two local incumbent Republicans legislators picked up Democratic Party challengers Thursday.

Michael S. Morgan qualified to run against Chuck Payne, R-Dalton, in the state Senate District 54 race. Payne qualified to run for re-election on Monday.

Lee A. Shiver qualified to run against Rick Jaspese, R-Jasper, for the state House of Representatives District 11 post. Jasperse qualified to run for re-election on Monday. District 11 covers parts of Murray, Gordon and Pickens counties.

In Murray County, Mitch Wilson qualified as a Republican for the Board of Education District 5 seat currently held by Frank Loyd. And incumbent Health Jones and Celeste Bargeron qualified for the District 6 seat on the school board.

Qualifying for the May 22 primary continues today through noon.

Incumbent Kelli Hicks Reed qualified as a Republican for Murray County Board of Education District 7 Wednesday.

Republican Kasey Carpenter of Dalton qualified for re-election to state House of Representatives District 4 on Tuesday.

On Monday, Whitfield County Commissioners Barry Robbins, District 1, and Roger Crossen, District 3, qualified for re-election as Republicans. For the Whitfield County Board of Education, incumbents Rodney Lock, District 2, and Bill Worley, at large, qualified for re-election as Republicans. Joseph Farmer qualified as a Republican for the District 4 seat currently held by Louis Fordham, who said Thursday he is not running for re-election.

In Murray County, Connie Reed qualified for chief magistrate, a nonpartisan post, Monday. The current chief magistrate is Gale Buckner.

For state offices, in addition to Jasperse and Payne, the following incumbent Republicans qualified for re-election on Monday:

• John Meadows, state House District 5.

• Jason Ridley, state House District 6.

• Steve Tarvin, state House District 2.

Tom Graves qualified as a Republican for U.S. House of Representatives District 14 Monday.

Qualifying for all Whitfield County offices continues at the Whitfield County Courthouse, 205 N. Selvidge St. in Dalton.

Qualifying for all Murray County races is being handled by the elections office in the courthouse annex, 121 N. Fourth Ave. in Chatsworth.

State and federal candidate qualifying is at the Elections Division of the Office of Secretary of State, 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive S.E., 802 West Tower, in Atlanta.