The 2024 primary election was a good night for incumbents in Jones County who were all re-elected with ease.
The turnout for the primary election was low, a total of 15.41 percent, or 3,163 ballots cast out of 20,525 registered voters. Advanced voting spanned three weeks and accounted for 5.44 percent of the vote, or 1,116. Absentee by mail ballots were 1.06 percent of the vote or 217 ballots.
The two Jones County Commissioners in contested Republican Primary races were District 2 Commissioner John Wood and District 3 Commissioner Wendy Vaughn. Neither face opponents in November.
Board Chairman Chris Weidner and Sam Kitchens were unopposed, as were Jones County’s constitutional officers.
Commissioner Daylon Martin, a Democrat who represents District 4, had no primary opponent but will face Republican challenger Alton West in November.
Jones County Coroner Matt Jarratt was also opposed in the Republican Primary and was re-elected with by a healthy margin. He does not have a challenger in November.
Wood received 455 votes to 242 received by his challenger, Micah Harley. Vaughn received 484 votes to 163 for Dan Howard, and Jarratt received 1,629 votes to 543 for Steve Johnson. The contests were the first for all three of the challengers.
The only other Jones County contested race was Board of Education District 2, which was vacant because the incumbent opted not to run again. The Board of Education contest is nonpartisan, which means the May 21 results decided the winner. Brady Skinner won the race with 701 votes over his opponent, Rice Adams, with 203.
The contest was the first foray into politics by Adams, but the third time was the charm for Skinner.
The Board of Education District 2 seat was open for election due to the unexpected decision by Alfred Pitts not to run again. When his term ends at the end of December, Pitts will have served 16 years on the board.
He was a teacher, then principal, and defeated 21-year Board of Education incumbent Willie Fluellen in the July 15, 2008, primary election for his seat on the board, two weeks after he retired as principal of Califf Middle School.
Skinner paid tribute to Pitts’ service in his comments following his May 21 victory.
“ I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to all who supported me and cast their ballots in my favor for the BOE District 2 seat. I am especially grateful for Mr. Pitts’ friendship and his unwavering commitment to our teachers and students. I aspire to follow in his footsteps and serve our district with a high level of excellence and distinction to continue moving our school system further into the future,” he said.
The newly elected board member took the opportunity to give a nod to his young challenger.
“I also would like to thank my opponent, Rice Adams. He is an outstanding young man, and I hope he and other young people stay involved in our school system.”
May 21 was a big night for Jarratt because, in addition to the election, it was the night of his daughter’s graduation. The coroner said he was where he should have been while the votes were being tabulated, with his family at the graduation ceremony.
“I’m just humbled by the overwhelming support I received from the community,” he said.
Jarratt said he was also happy at the way both sides handled the race.
“I’m thankful that Steve and I both ran a clean campaign. He and I are friends, not adversaries. I never begrudged him for running,” he said.“One of the cornerstones of America is giving the people choices, a voice, and that’s what the voting process is about. I do not own the office I hold. I’m allowed to stay there by the choice of the people, and I’ll never forget that.”
Wood was also thankful for the strong support he received from his constituents.
“I am greatly appreciative of the support and encouragement that I have received from everyone throughout the district, across the county, and around the region and state,” he said.
The commissioner went on to talk about his priorities now and going forward.
“I want to express a heartfelt thank you to everyone that voted for me in this and past elections. Jones County is myhome. I love living and working here. The citizens’wellbeing ismy top priority,” he said. “I am excited to continue my mission of keeping Jones Countysafe, prosperous and beautiful for allits citizens to live, work and enjoy.”
Election night issues
To anyone not at the Government Center on election night, it may have appeared everything went smoothly, but that was not the case. Typically, candidates who come to the Government Center get Advanced Voting results not long after the polls close at 7 p.m. That did not happen May 21.
Workers of the first precinct brought their results to the Elections Office at 8 p.m. That was the Pope Precinct, but it would be almost two hours later before the first report of the results were released.
The reason for the delay was twofold, and both problems originated with the state. Elections Superintendent Marion Hatton said, three days into Early Voting, she received word that a name running for a state office was left off the Democratic ballot.
That meant the first week of Early Voting would have to be tabulated separately. It was thought that could be done by using a separate code when the ballots were scanned, but that did not work.
It turned out each of the Democratic ballots cast during that time span had to be duplicated. That was over 100 ballots. The process not only took time, but the Advanced Voting results could not be tabulated until it was completed.
The same process had to be done for the Democratic absentee ballots by mail received, which also numbered over 100.
The second issue had to do with the coding of the computer tabulating the votes. The code for two precincts placed those results into the Advanced Voting columns and had to be fixed before results could be finalized. It was close to 1 a.m. when that happened.
The primary was the first major election that took place since the state took over building the ballots and coding the computers from Dominion in 2022.
Hatton took ultimate responsibility for not catching the errors, which have been rare in the past.
Volunteers
Hatton had nothing but praise for the poll workers who receive small compensation for the long hours they spend on Election Day and training needed prior to the election. This year she had additional help from four interns from Georgia College and State University, who proved invaluable helping at the precincts and election night.
The students are taking a course in Election Administration and upon completion will earn an Election Administration Certificate.
The four students are Emily Lanham, Collin Hall, Lauren Trinkwalder and Nicholas Wimbish. Hatton said the students were already familiar with the election code and election laws and were able to assist with Advanced Voting to earn the required 120 intern hours they needed for the course.
The superintendent said Hill worked in Jones County in the 2022 election, and she was glad when he returned, accompanied by more students.
“They have been incredible,” she said.
Hatton said all four have committed to return to help in the November General Election.
