Downey withdraws from Bibb BOE District 6 runoff

A scheduled runoff in the District 6 Bibb County school board race dissolved Friday when incumbent Jason Downey withdrew his name from consideration.

“After a great deal of prayerful consideration and for professional reasons related to opportunities recently presented to me, I have decided that I will withdraw from seeking re-election to the Bibb County Board of Education Seat for District 6,” Downey said in a statement.

Downey was set for a runoff on July 26 against Bob Easter, who picked up 48.54 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election to Downey’s 39.44 percent.

While Downey said he had been a “tireless advocate for our school system” since he was elected to the board in 2012, he didn’t want any more money invested into the race or hurt the “positive energy” that he’s seen develop in the county.

“To that end, I do not believe a nasty and antagonistic runoff for the District 6 seat, and the amount of resources from the community allocated toward the campaign and election, is a wise endeavor for our school system,” he said.

That focus on the district drew praise from school Superintendent Curtis Jones. Downey was part of the board that brought Jones to the school system in April 2015.

“Jason Downey has demonstrated to me over the past year that he has the interest of all students and our school district at heart,” Jones wrote in an email. “I believe he has been a good board member for the time we’ve been together so far, and I have great respect for his decision about what is in his best interest as well as the interest of our school board.”

Jones also indicated that he looked forward to working with Downey for the remainder of his term, which ends in December.

For Easter, Downey’s decision to withdraw creates more free time for all parties involved over the next couple of months, as well as eliminating any more finances being committed to campaigns.

“I’d just like to thank Jason Downey for his service to our community and look forward to bring our community together for the kids for the next four years,” Easter said.

He said he would continue to attend school board meetings and other school functions in preparation for taking office in January.

“It’s even more important for me to actively participate,” Easter said.

As part of his statement, Downey indicated he would be filing the proper paperwork with the board of elections to have his name removed from the runoff ballot.

Jeanetta Watson, the Macon-Bibb County elections supervisor, said her office had already been reviewing Georgia election law to make sure Downey’s withdrawal automatically gave Easter the victory. She said she hadn’t seen a situation like this before, so she wasn’t prepared to take an official stance.

“We’re going to look into that,” Watson said.

Downey said he had contacted both of his opponents, Easter and Valerie Wynn, who “brought much to the table” in the race for the District 6 seat. He said withdrawing from the race was about avoiding further divisiveness.

“And so I call on supporters of my opponents as well as my own supporters to come together,” Downey said. “For far too long, this community has been divided over how to move forward with our education in Bibb County.”

He counted improving graduation rates, bringing in Jones, work with charter schools and ESPLOST efforts among the successes of the board during his term, along with “ending Dallemand-style cronyism,” a reference to former school Superintendent Romain Dallemand.

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Downey withdraws from Bibb BOE District 6 runoff."