City elections could bring big changes

Next month’s city elections will see at least one new face put on Columbus Council and could be judgment day, for better or for worse, for three elected officials who have filed lawsuits against the city of Columbus and its leaders.

Half of the council’s 10 seats are on the ballot, but two, Post 2 Councilor Glenn Davis and Post 6 Councilor Gary Allen have no opposition. At-large Post 10 Councilor Skip Henderson faces newcomer Teddy Reese.

Post 4 Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Turner Pugh also faces a newcomer, Marquese Averett.

The election to see who takes over the Post 8 seat will be unusual. The seat was vacated when veteran Councilor Red McDaniel died in November 2014. Former state Rep. Tom Buck has been serving as interim since, but he is not seeking the seat permanently. Squaring off for the seat are Jonathan Paul Davis and Walker Garrett.

What makes the election unusual is that there will actually be two elections for the Post 8 seat: One for filling out the rest of the year and another to see who serves the next four years in the midtown district.

“Tom was appointed to fill the term until the next regular election for council or mayor, which is May 24,” said Elections and Registration Director Nancy Boren. “The regular election for that seat is a four-year term. The special election is to complete the term of Councilor Red McDaniel.”

Boren said she expects a “fairly decent” turnout in the neighborhood of 45 percent of registered voters.

“Of course, that is just an estimate and I will know a little better once early voting begins,” Boren said.

Early voting begins May 2. Tuesday is the deadline to register to vote for the May 24 election.

Superior Court Clerk Linda Pierce, Marshal Greg Countryman and Municipal Court Clerk Vivian Creighton Bishop face opposition in the Democratic Primary, but because no Republicans qualified for the races, the primary is tantamount to the election.

Pierce faces Ann Hardman, Countryman faces Bernard Spicer and Bishop faces Sylvia Hudson.

Other contested races include Municipal Court Judge, which pits incumbent Steven Smith against attorney Cynthia Maisano.

Other local elected officials who have no opposition include Coroner Buddy Bryan, Tax Commissioner Lula Huff, State Court Judge Ben Richardson, Probate Court Judge Marc D’Antonio and State Court Solicitor Suzanne Goddard.

There will be three names on the Democratic Primary ballot for the sheriff’s office, but only one of them is actually in the election. Former Sheriff’s Capt. Donna Tompkins is the sole Democrat in the race. Democrats Pam Brown and Robert Keith Smith qualified for the election, but they were disqualified when they failed to get fingerprinted for required background checks within the prescribed period after qualifying.

Mark LaJoye is the lone sheriff’s candidate in the Republican primary. Incumbent Sheriff John Darr has indicated he will qualify as an independent and will face the other two candidates in the November General Election.

The Muscogee County Elections Board voted 2-1 to disqualify the two and a Superior Court judge subsequently upheld the disqualification. Smith has said he will not appeal to a higher court. But Brown’s attorney, Mark Shelnutt, has said he plans to advise her to appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals.

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 9:46 PM with the headline "City elections could bring big changes."