Local & State Headlines

Anderson ballot eligibility still debated in Baker

• Isaac Anderson could be removed from the November ballot for Sheriff of Baker County.

J.D. Sumner

NEWTON — State party leaders say they have had conversations with at least two people interested in replacing embattled Baker County Sheriff Isaac Anderson, as county election officials continue to mull whether to strip Anderson’s name from the November ballot.

Dana Meade, who has qualified to run as an independent candidate, and Mitchell County Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Williamson, both spoke with representatives of the state Democratic Party to discuss their interest in the race, Georgia Democratic Party Spokesman Martin Matheny said Wednesday.

Baker County Probate Judge Angel Hendricks said Tuesday she is awaiting advice from county attorney Tommy Coleman before making a decision on whether Anderson can legally seek re-election after having his law enforcement credentials revoked by the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council.

Baker County Sheriff since 1996, Anderson has been fighting to stay in office since a 2002 incident in which was implicated in a scheme to create an alibi for a Florida man who was charged with assaulting his wife.

Despite being acquitted of all criminal charges, the Georgia POST Council revoked Anderson’s certification for not cooperating during the investigation.

That move prompted a series of court battles that ended when the Georgia Supreme Court decided not to hear Anderson’s case, effectively upholding a Court of Appeals decision allowing POST to strip Anderson of his certification.

Monday, Anderson surrendered his badge and gun after Hendricks declared the office vacant after receiving a letter from POST.

Anderson attorney Phil Cannon told a Herald reporter Monday that he plans on challenging Hendrick’s authority to boot the former sheriff off the November ballot, even after he was the lone party candidate to qualify for the seat.

Tuesday, Matheny said that the Democratic Party was “prepared” to supply a nominee to replace Anderson if he was yanked from the ballot.

Wednesday, Matheny confirmed that representatives of the party had with “several interested” people in preparation for naming a nominee through talks aided by South Georgia Judicial Circuit District Attorney and Democrat Joe Mulholland, who was approached by the Democratic party as a local person familiar with those interested in the race.

Addressing accusations that he may have used money from his DA coffers to pay for the trip for Meade and Williamson up to Atlanta, Mulholland said he used his own personal money and credit card to pay for the trip.

“I’m smarter than that,” Mulholland said. “The Democratic party said they were looking at candidates and ask me if I would mind taking them up there and I needed to talk to them about my campaign anyway, so I drove up there, used my gas and paid for the motel myself because I needed them to talk to them about my issue, but I told them that I wasn’t getting involved in the sheriff’s race.”

Mulholland, is facing opposition in November, said the accusations are likely political, but that he has made it a point to not get involved in the situation in Baker County.

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