By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MARCH 12, 2024 | A reminder: Today is the 2024 presidential primary date. Be sure to vote!
Gwinnett candidates have made a decision to run for political office and recently paid their qualifying fees. So now we have the list of neighbors you’ll be voting on in the May 21 primary.
Perhaps the biggest story isn’t who qualified, but the fact that the once-dominant Republican Party doesn’t seem as strong with new candidates than might have been expected. Recent strong showing throughout the county for Democratic candidates may have affected this.
For some offices, there are plenty of candidates.
The race for the three seats on the county commission has nine candidates seeking three posts. Seeking the post of chair, now held by Nicole Love-Hendricksen on the Democratic ticket is Donna McLeod, who earlier was a member of the Statehouse from Gwinnett. The Republican candidates for chair include John Subic and Justic Nwaigwe.
Current District 1, Commissioner Democrat Kirkland Carden faces Republican Tim Le for this seat. Neither candidate drew primary opposition.
For District 3, Commissioner Jasper Watkins has opposition from Marqus A. Cote for the Democratic nomination, with the winner facing Republican Bobby Howard in the General Election.
For sheriff, currently held by Democrat Keybo Taylor, there are five Democrats running and three Republicans seeking the sheriff’s office. Besides Taylor, the others seeking the Democratic nomination include Curtis Clemons, Shurron B. Green, Joseph Mark and Brian Whiteside. Previously Whiteside served one term as the solicitor of the State Court of Gwinnett, but was defeated when seeking re-election in 2020. The Republican candidates for sheriff include Baron Reinhold, Mike Baker and Oladipupu Soyomokum.
The clerk of Superior Court, Democrat Triana Person Garner, drew no opposition from either party, and will remain in office.
There will be three candidates for the office of Tax Commissioner. They include two Democrats, the current commissioner Denise Mitchell, who will be opposed by Philip Bonton III. For the Republicans, Arefeen Chowdhury is their candidate for this position.
Three Democrats seek to become the Gwinnett District Attorney. They include the current DA, Patsy Austin-Gatson, who is drawing opposition from Andrea Alabi, and Daryl E. Manns.
Nonpartisan races
Contested races are underway in the nonpartisan court system. Four of the present Superior Court judges do not have opposition. Two judges are not seeking re-election, Ronnie Batchelor and Karen Beyers.
Facing each other for the Batchelor seat will be Kimberly Gallant and Rodney S. Harris. For the Beyers post, there are three candidates, which means there could be a runoff for this seat. The candidates are Thassanee Gutter-Parker, Regina Matthews and Tuwanda Rush Williams.
There are five state court judgeships up this year. Four of the state court judges have drawn no opposition. They are Emily Jones Brantley, Carla Brown, Veronica Cope and Jalette Long Smith. The only state court judge drawing opposition is Shawn Bratton, opposed by Ramona T. Sakhanokho.
Also drawing no opposition were Probate Judge Chris Ballar and the chief Magistrate Court Judge Krista Hammer Blum.
School board races
The School Board races drew the most candidates. Look at the non-partisan race for three school board seats. There are 11 candidates wanting to guide our educational system.
For District 1, now held by Karen Mulzac Watkins, she will face opposition from Leroy Ranel Jr. and Rachel Stone.
For District 3, now held by the retiring Mary Kay Murphy, five candidates are in the running. They include Steve Gasper, Domonique Cooper, Yanin Cortes, Anthony Mulkey and Shawn V. White.
In District 5, now held by Tarance Johnson-Morgan, she will have opposition from Patrina King and Jacquelyn Evenbezer-Gold.
Both the elections for the judgeships and the school board will be decided in the May 21 primary.
Coming Friday: Legislative candidates.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Follow Us