Qualifying is next week for three of the five positions of the Jones County Board of Education. Candidates will qualify at the Jones County Board of Elections Office located at the Government Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 2-5 and 9 a.m. to noon March 6. The contest is non-partisan, which means no political parties are involved. The date of the election is May 19 and will decide who will hold the position. Terms for the positions begin Jan. 1 of 2027.
The positions being decided are Board of Education Chairman and representatives of District 1 and 3. Ginger Bailey is the current chairman. She took office in 2011. Mike Gordon is the District 1 representative. He has represented the district since 2019.
Dr. Nancy Nash is the District 3 representative. She has represented the district since 2016.
The qualifying fees are $180 for the chairman and $108 for the representatives for District 1 and 3.
Bailey is in her fourth term in office and has only faced opposition once.
That was in 2022. She was opposed by Max Wood and Brady Skinner but won easily with over 50 percent of the vote.
Neither Gordon nor Nash were challenged in 2022, but Nash was challenged by Skinner in 2014.
Gordon has not been challenged since he took office.
Skinner ran successfully in 2024 to represent District 2 and now sits on the board.
Staggard and non-partisan
The terms of Board of Education members are staggard for a reason.
Board members voted in 2002 to stagger the elections to make sure that board decisions would never be in the hands of less than two experienced board members.
Board members also made the decision to become non-partisan in 2012, which is why the election is decided in May.
Primary elections
The May 19 election will also determine outcomes in both Republican and Democratic primaries for state races, the most high-profile being governor, lieutenant governor, one U.S. senator and other state executive offices.
The governor’s contest already has seven announced candidates for each party, making a runoff likely. The date for the runoff election will be June 16.
Dates to remember
In addition to being the first day of qualifying, March 2 is also the earliest day a voter can request an absentee ballot. The last day to request an absentee ballot is May 8.
Additional important dates are April 6, when the sample ballots will be posted, and April 20 is the deadline to register to vote in the May 19 elections.
April 20 is also the first day absentee ballots can be mailed to voters.
The deadline for absentee ballots to be returned in person is May 19 and mailed ballots must also be received by May 19. The first day of advanced voting for the May 19 elections is April 27 and Advanced Voting continues until May 15. The two Saturday Advanced Voting dates are May 2 and May 9.
All these dates can be found on the Jones County Elections and Registration Facebook page. For more information, go online to My Voter Page, mvp.sos. ga.gov or call the elections office at 478-986-3222.
