June election set to fill Norwood seat; qualifying set after assembly session

A special election has been set for June 19 to fill the 10th Congressional District seat vacated by the February 13 death of Congressman Charlie Norwood, and candidates from both parties have declared their desire to fill the seat.

Republican candidates include Wilkes County's state senator Jim Whitehead of Evans, state Sen. Ralph Hudgens of Comer, physician Paul Broun of Athens, and activist Bill Green of Braselton.

One Democrat, Terry Holley of Thomson, has declared his candidacy.

Several others, in both parties, are said to be considering a run but have not yet announced their candidacy, according to Congressional Quarterly.

In response to Governor Sonny Perdue's request, Secretary of State Karen Handel agreed to set the qualifying date to be after the General Assembly session concludes late in March, allowing any state legislators who may run to fulfill their duties in the General Assembly while giving candidates an ad- equate amount of time to campaign.

"Waiting until the close of the session will allow the counties to consolidate the elections for the Congressional seat and any General Assembly vacancies," said Secretary Handel. "This means less cost to the taxpayers. It should also help with voter turnout."

Georgia state lawmakers automatically resign from their state offices when they qualify to run for another office.

This will require a special election to replace both Whitehead and Hudgens. That election will also be held June 19.

The June 19 date is the next special election date set forth in Georgia law that would also allow for county-wide, municipal, and/or SPLOST elections on the same day.

"Since qualification for this election will likely create vacancies in other elected offices, I am hopeful that all of those seats could be filled on one election day," Perdue said.

If one candidate does not win outright with a majority in the June 19 election, there will be a July 17 runoff between the top two vote-getters, no matter their party affiliation.

In other items of information, Handel said she will announce the dates of the qualifying period for the Congressional election immediately following the close of the legislative session. This process includes issuing a "call" to the citizens of the affected counties to establish the election and qualifying dates.

The call will be published in major newspapers with significant circulation, including The Augusta Chronicle, as well as various weekly newspapers in the district. The announcement is scheduled to run several days prior to the start of the twoand a-half-day qualifying period.

The last day to register to vote in the Special Election is May 21.

The 10th Congressional District includes, in addition to Wilkes County, the counties of Columbia, part of Richmond, McDuffie, Lincoln, Oglethorpe, Greene, Putnam, Morgan, Oconee, Clark, Elbert, Madison, Jackson, Hart, Franklin, Banks, Stephens, Habersham, Rabun and Towns Counties.

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