Pritchett, Broun advance

By Kathryn Purcell
Managing Editor

Taking part in this week's General Primary Election, 2,251 Morgan County residents, or 18.5 percent of the county's registered voters, turned out Tuesday to cast their ballots.
In total, there are 12,168 registered voters in Morgan County, with 10,253 of those voters considered active.
"It was much lighter than we had hoped for," Morgan County Elections Supervisor Bobby Howington said. "The state, earlier, projected 30 percent."
Despite the low turnout, Sheriff's candidate Kenny Pritchett sealed his bid to run as the race's Democratic nominee with 484 votes out of 723 total, or 66.94 percent. His opposition, Terry Scoggins, received 239 votes, or 33.06 percent.
"I'm very pleased with the outcome and I want to thank Terry Scoggins for the type of campaign he ran," Pritchett said. "It was a very clean campaign, and he should be credited for the support he had, especially with the short time he's lived in the county."
Incumbent Sheriff Robert Markley, the Republican candidate, received a total of 1,287 votes.
In the race for the District 10 seat in the United States House of Representatives, Republican incumbent Paul Broun received 1,158 countywide votes, or 83.91 percent, while his opposition, Barry Fleming, received 222 votes. District–wide, with 87 percent of the votes tallied, Broun had a commanding 70 percent to 30 percent lead over Fleming at press time Tuesday.
Also running for District 10 seat, Democrat Bobby Saxon received a total of 587 votes countywide.
In the race for the United States Senate seat, Democratic candidate Vernon Jones received 286 votes, or 37.58 percent, countywide. Jones' opposition includes Democratic candidates Jim Martin, with 246 votes countywide; Dale Cardwell, 177 votes; Rand Knight, 32 votes; and Josh Lanier, 20 votes.
Republican incumbent for the Senate seat, incumbent Saxby Chambliss, received 1,300 votes in Morgan County.
While running unopposed in Tuesday's election, Republican candidate for Tax Commissioner Terry Evans received 1,061 votes, while incumbent Tax Commissioner Rebecca Astin, a Democrat, received 706 votes.
In other news, incumbent Morgan County Board of Commissioners Chairman and District Three Commissioner Mack Bohlen, a Republican, received 201 votes, and incumbent Republican District Five Commissioner Sammy Cathey received 317 votes.
Incumbent Republican Clerk of Superior Court Jody Moss received 1,201 votes.
District One Board of Education candidate Democrat Minnie Peek, also the incumbent, received 178 votes, while District Three Board of Education candidate republican Keith Howard received 218 votes.
Republican Coroner Adam E. Carter, the incumbent, received 1,222 votes.
Incumbent Democrat District Attorney Fred Bright received 588 votes.
In the race for the District 25 State Senate seat, Republican candidate Johnny Grant, the incumbent, received 1,233 votes countywide, while Democratic candidate Ben Mitcham received 539 votes.
Incumbent District 112 state Representative Republican Doug Holt received 971 votes countywide, and incumbent District 113 state Representative Republican Bob Smith received 244 votes.
In the running for Commissioner Angela Speir's slot on the Georgia Public Service Commission, republican candidate Lauren W. McDonald received 700 votes countywide, while opposition Pam Davidson received 437 votes. Part of the same race, but on the democratic side, candidate Jim Powell received 520 votes countywide, while opposition Bob Indech received 87 votes.
Finally, in the race for Commissioner Doug Everett's position on the state's Public Service Commission, Everett himself, a Republican, walked away with 840 votes in Morgan County, while his opposition, Rick Collum, received 330.
These totals are unofficial and incomplete, as, on Tuesday, 11 of Morgan County's 12 precincts reported results. Missing from the total are the military and provisional ballots, which will be added to the total Friday morning.
Visit the Morgan County Elections Department online at www.morganga.org for complete results at the end of the week.