Qualifying is over for the only three positions up for election May 19 for the Jones County Board of Education with only one of the incumbents being challenged.
All three incumbents, Chairman Ginger Bailey, District 1 representative Mike Gordon and District 3 representative Dr. Nancy Nash qualified to run for reelection March 2, the first day of qualifying.
Bailey is the only incumbent facing opposition.
Marilyn Norfleet qualified March 5 to run for Board of Education chairman.
Bailey took office in 2011 and is in her fourth term in office. She has only faced opposition once, which was in 2022. She was opposed by Max Wood and Brady Skinner. The incumbent won that contest with more than 50 percent of the vote.
The BOE election is non-partisan, which means no political parties are involved and no primary is needed. The date of the election is May 19, but the next term will not begin until Jan. 1 of 2027.
The other two seats on the board were up for election in 2024. The decision to stagger the terms was an effort by board members to make sure there is always experienced members on the board.
Gordon has represented District 1 since 2019, and Nash has represented District 3 since 2016.
In a phone interview after qualifying closed March 6, Norfleet said running for the chairman’s position is exciting for her.
“I’ve wanted to get into public service,” she said.
Norfleet is married to husband John and has six grandchildren. She has lived in Jones County for 40 years and has worked in education for much of her career.
Norfleet said she grew up in Greenville, Mississippi, and her family’s priority was education. She moved to Georgia after her marriage. They lived in Bibb County before moving to Jones County.
Her college major was science and chemistry but she earned a master’s degree in public administration and policy management from Georgia College.
Norfleet was a registered medical technologist and worked at Brown and Williamson before becoming a VISTA volunteer, working with adult education.
She took the position of site manager for Central Georgia Technical College’s Adult Education in Jones County after the manager retired and served in the position for 16 years. For her final four years, she worked in Bibb County as the site manager of four counties.
Norfleet said she understands it will not be easy to unseat a fourterm incumbent, but she is ready to go to work.
“I have a strong commitment to everything I do, and I’ve been doing my homework,” she said.
The challenger said her platform is about the lack of transparency from the current board, which Norfleet said leads to mistrust.
“I know we have a good school system, but the lack of transparency is eroding the public’s trust,” she stated.
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 has seven candidates for each party, making a runoff likely. The date for the runoff election will be June 16.
Election info
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 advance voting for the May 19 elections is April 27, and advance voting continues until May 15. The two Saturday advance voting dates are May 2 and 9.
All of 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.
