Originally posted 4:37 p.m. Feb. 24, 2022

Updated 5:10 p.m. March 9

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Qualifying for state and local races started Monday and will continue through noon on Friday.

The location of qualifying varies depending on what race is being sought and what party the candidate is running in.

An election May 24 will determine the winners of nonpartisan races and select Democratic and Republican nominees for partisan races who will face one another in the general election Nov. 8.

Local partisan races

Colquitt County voters will choose four county commissioners this year:

• District 1, currently held by Barbara Jelks.

• District 3, currently held by Marc DeMott.

• District 5, currently held by Paul Nagy.

• District 7, the chairmanship, currently held by Denver Braswell.

The qualifying fee for Districts 1, 3 and 5 is $126 and for the chairmanship is $144.

Dennis Futch, chairman of the Colquitt County Republican Party, will conduct qualifying for Republican candidates at his business, The Tax Shop, 16 S. Main St.

Representatives of the Colquitt County Democratic Party will be at Room 120 of the Colquitt County Courthouse, 9 S. Main St., to conduct qualifying for Democratic candidates.

Local nonpartisan races

Colquitt County voters will also select a chief magistrate judge and three members of the Colquitt County Board of Education. These are nonpartisan elections, so winners May 24 will take office on Jan. 1.

• Chief magistrate judge, currently held by J.J. McMillan.

• BOE District 1, currently held by Trudie Hill.

• BOE District 4, currently held by Robbie Pitts.

• BOE District 5, currently held by Patricia Anderson.

The qualifying fee for the judgeship is $2,056.43. The qualifying fee for each school board seat is $234.

Qualifying will take place at the office of Probate Court of Colquitt County in the Colquitt County Courthouse, 9 S. Main St., Room 108.

State & federal partisan races

Eight state executive positions are up for election:

• Governor, currently held by Brian Kemp.

• Lieutenant governor, currently held by Geoff Duncan.

• Secretary of state, currently held by Brad Raffensperger.

• Attorney general, currently held by Chris Carr.

• School superintendent, currently held by Richard Woods.

• Agriculture commissioner, currently held by Gary Black.

• Labor commissioner, currently held by Mark Butler.

• Insurance and safety fire commissioner, currently held by John F. King.

The U.S. Senate seat currently held by the Rev. Raphael Warnock is also up for election. Sen. Johnny Isakson resigned in late 2019. Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Kelly Loeffler to fill Isakson’s seat until the next general election, which took place in November 2020. Warnock defeated Loeffler in a runoff the following January and has held the seat for about a year. The 2022 election marks the beginning of a full six-year term for the seat.

All seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Georgia Senate and the Georgia House of Representatives are up for election every two years. The following seats represent Colquitt County:

• U.S. House District 8, currently held by Austin Scott.

• State Senate District 11, currently held by Dean Burke.

• State House District 172, currently held by Sam Watson of Moultrie. Before new voting districts were approved last year, Colquitt County was split between House Districts 171 and 172, but the map that’s now in effect consolidates the whole county in District 172.

In addition, two seats are up for election on the state Public Service Commission. District 2, currently held by Tim Echols, has reached the end of its six-year term. A special election is planned in District 3, currently held by Fitz Johnson, to fill the rest of an unexpired term. PSC members must live in the district they represent, but they’re elected statewide; neither of the districts up for election includes Colquitt County, so local people will not be able to qualify for them.

Qualifying for state and federal posts will take place at State Capitol Building, Room 230, whether the candidate is Republican or Democrat.

State nonpartisan races

Four Supreme Court justices are up for election: Verda Colvin, Shawn LaGrua, David Nahmias and Carla W. McMillian. Nahmias announced earlier this month that he would retire in July, which raises questions of when Gov. Brian Kemp will appoint his replacement and whether that replacement will have to face election this year.

Four judges on the state Court of Appeals are also up for election: Anne Barnes, Chris McFadden, Andrew Pinson and John Pipkin III.

The Southern Judicial Circuit, which includes Colquitt County, will also have an election to fill the seat currently held by Judge James Hardy, who has announced he won’t seek re-election, and the one currently held by Judge Brian McDaniel.

Candidates for state nonpartisan elections can qualify at any of the three offices of the Georgia Secretary of State: Elections Division, Suite 802, West Tower, 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive S.E., Atlanta; Professional Licensing Boards Division, 237 Coliseum Drive, Macon; or South Georgia Office, 238 E. Second St., Tifton.

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For more details about qualifying for state races, visit the Secretary of State’s website at sos.ga.gov. For more information about qualifying for local races, contact the office of Colquitt County Probate Judge Wes Lewis at (229) 616-7415.