Who will fill open Muscogee County School Board seat? Here’s the list of candidates
A familiar name and a newcomer to local politics are the two candidates who qualified this week for the June 15 special election to fill a vacancy on the Muscogee County School Board.
According to documents from the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registration, Bart Steed, the owner of Kar-Tunes Car Stereo, and Nickie Tillery, the compliance and human resources specialist for road construction contractor J.A. Long, will be on the nonpartisan ballot.
They will campaign to replace retired science teacher Mike Edmondson, who was the District 2 representative on the nine-member board when he died from cancer Feb. 10. The winner would fill the remainder of the four-year term, which will be up for election in 2022.
This is Steed’s third attempt to join the board.
In the four-way District 2 race during the 2014 election, John Thomas, an IRS agent, led the first round of voting by receiving 35% of the vote. The 28-year incumbent John Wells, received 28%, Steed 27% and Pratt & Whitney training and development coordinator Victor Morales 10%. Thomas trounced Wells in the runoff with 80% of the votes.
In 2018, when Thomas didn’t seek re-election, Edmondson and Steed were the top two finishers in the three-way race. Neither garnered a majority of the votes, forcing the runoff. Edmondson received 47%, Steed 30% and Aflac claims specialist Sheryl Hobbs McCraine 23%. Edmondson beat Steed in the runoff with 60% of the votes.
Two weeks after Edmondson died, the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registration called for the following schedule to fill the school board’s vacancy:
- April 6-8 for the dates that candidates can register to qualify on the ballot. The qualifying fee is $135.
- May 17 for the voter registration deadline.
- May 24 for the first day of early voting in the City Services Center and the first day to issue mail-in ballots.
- June 11 for the last day to request a mail-in ballot.
- June 15 for in-person voting at the five voting precincts in District 2: Britt David, Cornerstone, St. Mark, St. Peter and Wynnbrook. The St. Mark precinct will move to Central Baptist Church, and the Cornerstone precinct will move to a new location yet to be determined, elections director Nancy Boren told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Voters can check their registration status and polling information by visiting Georgia’s My Voter Page.
The Ledger-Enquirer plans to publish Q&As with both candidates in the coming weeks.
This story was originally published April 9, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
