Middle Georgians head to polls to vote on 2nd Congressional District, MWA chair
Middle Georgians will head to the polls today to pick a winner in the Republican primary runoff for Georgia’s Second Congressional District and select a new Macon Water Authority Chairman.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 31 election day precincts in Bibb County. To find your election day polling place, visit maconbibb.us/where-to-vote or log on to the secretary of state’s My Voter Page at mvp.sos.ga.gov.
Republicans Jeremy Hunt and Chris West are vying for the GOP nomination in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District. The winner will face U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, who has represented the district for almost three decades.
Hunt, a former U.S. Army captain and Yale Law student who recently moved to Columbus, enters the runoff with support from national Republicans and PAC funding.
West, a 38-year-old Thomasville attorney who serves in the Georgia Air National Guard, has touted himself as the homegrown candidate. Three other GOP challengers from May’s primary — Wayne Johnson, Vivian Childs and Paul Whitehead — have endorsed West. The district includes most of Columbus and Macon.
Macon Water Authority Chairman
Gary Bechtel and Desmond Brown are in a runoff to decide who will chair the Macon Water Authority. The MWA provides water and sewer services for Bibb County and, in January, began charging a new fee to update its stormwater system.
Bechtel is a real estate salesman who previously served on the Bibb County Commission, school board and water authority.
The authority hired former district attorney David Cooke in December to investigate Brown’s actions in billing the MWA for more than $40,000 on behalf of a client of his disaster mitigation company, the Center for Collaborative Journalism’s Liz Fabian reported earlier this year.
Brown accused the authority of conducting a “witch hunt” to get rid of him. When Brown qualified for the chairman position, he effectively vacated his District 2 seat, ending the MWA investigation.
In last months’ primary, Bechtel received 12,285 votes (47%), while Brown received 7,774 (30%).
Tom Ellington received 5,933 votes (23%).
Statewide races
There are no statewide Republican runoffs on the June 21 ballot. However, there are several Democratic runoffs. They are:
- Lt. Gov: Charlie Bailey vs. Kwanza Hall
- Secretary of State: Dee Dawkins-Hagler vs. Bee Nguyen
- Insurance Commissioner: Raphael Baker vs. Janice Laws Robinson
- Commissioner of Labor: William “Will” Boddie, Jr. vs. Nicole Horn
This story was originally published June 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
