SOUTH GEORGIA: Metro Albany lawmakers re-elected; one judge race has runoff ahead
U.S. Sen. Johnny Iskason, U.S. Rep. Austin Scott turn back GOP challengers
From Staff Reports
ALBANY — Metro Albany lawmakers easily won re-election Tuesday night, while one Southwest Georgia Superior Court judgeship is headed to a July runoff election, according to incomplete election results.
State Rep. Ed Rynders, R-Leesburg, took more than four out of every five votes cast in the House District 152 Republican primary in which his re-election bid was challenged by Mary Egler, also of Lee County. With Lee and Worth counties reporting and partial results from Sumter County, Rynders had a commanding 5,345-1,233 lead, assuring him of another two-year term in the Legislature. No Democrats are seeking the seat.
“I appreciate the confidence the people of House District 152 have shown in me,” Rynders said Tuesday night. “I believe the people here understand that I will continue to represent their conservative values. I’m humbled by the margin of victory.”
In Dougherty County, state Rep. Darrel Ealum, D-Albany, easily outdistanced two Democratic challengers, Muarlean “Hat” Edwards and political newcomer Antonio Screen, to win another two-year term representing House District 152. Ealum captured 2,811 votes, 56.9 percent of those cast, and faces no GOP challenger. Edwards finished second with 1,472 votes, or 29.8 percent, and Screen garnered 662, or 13.4 percent.
“I am excited and honored the voters of my district selected me to represent them in Atlanta for a second term. Representing Albany in the General Assembly is special and is the greatest honor of my life,” Ealum said. “We have a fabulous campaign team, and our volunteers worked tirelessly right through the very last minute on Election Day. Our win is a sweet victory for Albany and Southwest Georgia.
In a tight Superior Court judgeship race, Ryan Cleveland of Bainbridge will face Heather Hendricks Lanier of Newton in a July 26 nonpartisan runoff election in the South Georgia Judicial Circuit to determine who will succeed Judge A. Wallace Cato, who is retiring when his present term concludes at the end of this year.
Cleveland was the leading vote-getter with 4,094 ballots (34.8 percent), barely edging Lanier, who garnered 4,061 votes (34.5 percent), by 0.27 percent. Mike Bankston came in third with 3,601 votes, or 30.6 percent. The circuit comprises Decatur, Mitchell, Baker, Calhoun and Grady counties.
In another race to succeed a retiring judge, Jimmie Brown avoided a runoff in the nonpartisan race to replace Judge George Peagler in the the Southwestern Judicial Circuit. With all six counties — Lee, Macon, Schley, Sumter, Stewart and Webster — reporting, Brown had 7,788 votes, or 56.4 percent of the votes cast. Lewis R. Lamb was in second with 4,860, or 35.2 percent, and Kevin Kwashnak was third with 1,158 votes, 8.4 percent.
In statewide races, with 145 of Georgia’s 159 counties fully reporting and five counties partially reporting for 96.9 percent of the total statewide votes accounted for Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Marietta, had no trouble winning the Republican Senate race, claiming more than three-quarters of the votes cast.
With 442,732 votes, 77.5 percent, Isakson easily outdistanced challengers Derrick Grayson, 68,530 votes for 12 percent, and Mary Kay Bacallao, 60,367 for 10.6 percent..
On the Democratic side in the U.S. Senate race, Jim Barksdale avoided a runoff for the nomination to oppose Isakson on Nov. 8. On Wednesday, he had 163,220, 53.9 percent of the votes in that race, while Cheryl Copeland was second with 127,398, or 42.3 percent. The third candidate, John Coyne, got 12,414 votes, 4.1 percent.
In U.S. House contests in Southwest Georgia, Greg Duke of Lee County defeated Diane Vann — 12,895 to 3,433 — with all 29 counties in the 2nd Congressional District reporting. Duke, with 79 percent of the vote, will challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, who had no Democratic opposition Tuesday, in the heavily Democratic district in November.
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, had no trouble winning his GOP primary against challenger Angela Hicks. With all 24 counties in the 8th Congressional District reporting, Scott had 34,867 votes, 77.8 percent, to Hicks’ 9,979, 21.3 percent. Scott’s next challenge to his re-election bid will be Democrat James Neal Harris in the heavily Republican district.
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