Qualifying for municipal elections in Blackshear, Offerman and Patterson will be next week.
Qualifying will be held Monday, August 18-Wednesday, August 20. Qualifying for all three cities will take place a the Board of Elections and Registration, 312 Nichols Street, Blackshear. The election will be held Tuesday, November 4.
Blackshear voters will elect a mayor and three council seats in this year’s municipal election.
Blackshear’s qualifying fee for mayor at $180 and its qualifying fee for three city council seats at $72.
Mayor Keith Brooks is currently completing his first term, after being elected in a special election. Brooks has said he intends to run again for another term.
The district three, four and five seats are also up for election this year.
The district three seat is currently held by Dr. Corey Lesseig. The district four seat is held by Theo Mackey and Chuck Ward holds the district five seat.
Lesseig and Mackey have announced their intentions to run again. Ward has indicated he will not run again.
Patterson will elect a mayor and two council members and Offerman will elect three council members.
Mayor Dedi Thomas has said he is leaning toward running for re-election, but hasn’t made a final decision.
Thomas has served as mayor since winning a special election to fill the unexpired term of former Mayor George Denison, who resigned in 2016. Thomas won election to a term in his own right in 2017 and was re-elected without opposition in 2021.
Seats currently held by Jim Echols and David Smith will be up for election. The city council seats are at-large posts. Both say they are running again.
Echols is currently completing his first term on the council, while Smith was first elected in May 2013 to fill the unexpired council term of George Denison. Denison had given up the seat to run for mayor. Smith has been reelected two times since then.
Patterson’s qualifying fee for mayor at $144 and its qualifying fee for two city council seats at $36.
In Offerman, the council seats held by Wade Gill, Vivian Milledge and Tommy Colley are all up for election.
Milledge and Colley said they are running again. Gill said he has not yet decided.
Colley is completing his third term this year, while Gill is completing his second. Milledge will be seeking a term in her own right. She was elected in 2022 to fill the unexpired term of Candice Thorne, who died in office.
Qualifying fee for the Offerman council seats is $25.
No other candidates have officially announced for the mayor’s seat or for any of the council seats.
In addition to municipal elections, a county-wide ESPLOST referendum and a statewide special general election for two public service commission seats will also be held Nov. 4.
Qualifying August 18 - August 20.
Board of Elections and Registration, 312 Nichols Street, Blackshear.
The election will be held Tuesday, November 4.
