On last day of qualifying, more candidates added to ballot for 2022 Columbus elections
Whether someone said they plan to run this year for Columbus mayor, council or Muscogee County state court judge or school board doesn’t matter anymore — because qualifying week has come and gone.
So potential candidates have become official candidates by filing the document and paying the fee to required to be listed on the May 24 ballot in the 2022 nonpartisan election.
In addition to the mayoral race, Columbus Council Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be on the ballot this year. Runoffs would be held on June 21 if needed. District 9 is an at-large district, meaning all eligible Columbus voters can cast a ballot in that race. For the remaining seats, only residents who live in the district can vote for their councilor.
Five of the nine seats on the Muscogee County School District board are up for election this year. All registered voters in Columbus can vote for candidates running for the school board’s lone at-large seat. Voters in Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 also will choose their school board representatives.
As of the noon Friday deadline, here are the qualified candidates in those races, according to the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registration and the Georgia Secretary of State’s website:
Columbus mayor
John Anker, president of packaging and manufacturing company Ankerpak; Skip Henderson (incumbent).
Columbus Council
District 1: Jerry “Pops” Barnes (incumbent), retired.
District 3: Bruce Huff (incumbent), mortician; DeMarco “D1” Johnson, certified leadership development coach and president of Boyz 2 Men Development, a mentoring and counseling nonprofit organization.
District 5: John Adams III, building engineer; Charmaine Crabb (incumbent), real estate agent; Carmella Morales, occupation not listed.
District 7: Laketha Ashe, occupation not listed; Joanne Cogle, self-employed; Sia Etamdi, architect; Juanita Taylor, occupation not listed. District 7 incumbent Mimi Woodson has told the Ledger-Enquirer she won’t run for re-election.
District 9 (citywide): Doug Redmond, real estate; Carl Sprayberry, training coordinator; Judy Thomas (incumbent), retired; Alyssa Williams, analyst; Vickie Williams Wiley, college administrator.
State court judge
Andy Prather (incumbent).
Muscogee County School Board
District 2: Sadiyah Abdullah, former MCSD prekindergarten director and former Lonnie Jackson Academy principal, now academic coach at Georgetown Elementary School (would have to resign from MCSD to become a board member); Nickie Tillery (incumbent), human resources and compliance specialist at road construction contractor J.A. Long.
District 4: Naomi Buckner (incumbent), retired Chattahoochee County special-education teacher.
District 6: Mark Cantrell (incumbent), CEO of Action Buildings; Zebulon Harris, a supervisor at Aflac.
District 8: Sarah Smith, real estate agent; Margot Schley, occupation not listed. Her father, District 8 incumbent Philip Schley, has told the L-E he won’t run for re-election.
At large (countywide): Kia Chambers (incumbent), realtor.
Key dates
Here are the key dates leading up to election for these public offices:
- March 7: First day to apply for absentee ballot.
- March 7-11: Qualification period for candidates.
- April 25: Voter registration deadline.
- May 2-20: Advance voting period.
- May 24: Election day.
- June 21: Runoff date if necessary.
Qualifying fees
Here are the qualifying fees candidates must pay to be on the ballot:
- School board: $360
- City council: $420
- Mayor: $1,950
- State court judge $4,943.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 2:32 PM.
