Dillard holds on to Bibb BOE seat; others head to runoffs

Thelma Dillard retained her District 2 seat on the Bibb County school board Tuesday, while candidates in other districts are headed for runoffs.

In District 2, Dillard defeated Tina Dennard 1,779 votes to 968, taking 64.62 percent of the vote.

Dillard, the incumbent, has served on the board since her election in 2012. Before that, she was on Macon City Council for 20 years after a 40-year career as an educator.

Dennard, the challenger, worked for most of her career in advertising but has spent the last 25 years volunteering with a mentoring program she helped start.

In District 5, James Timley and Sundra Woodford will face each other in a July 26 runoff, picking up 43.41 and 41.86 percent of the vote, respectively.

Tom Hudson now holds the seat, but he is completing his third and final term.

Woodford, who has a doctorate in educational leadership, is the manager of neighborhood revitalization for the Macon Area Habitat for Humanity.

Jerome Collins was the third candidate and got just 14.32 percent of the vote.

Collins, a real estate agent who also works at Robins Air Force Base, has run unsuccessfully six times for various offices, while Timley is a retired educator who formerly served on Macon City Council.

The final tally was 1,488 votes for Timley, 1,435 votes for Woodford and 491 votes for Collins.

In District 6, incumbent Jason Downey is headed for a July 26 runoff with Bob Easter, after Easter picked up 2,604 votes, more than 48 percent, and Downey got 2,116 votes, or 39.44 percent.

Downey, who has held the post since he ran unopposed in 2012, is an attorney.

Easter was a small business owner before changing careers to teach in the public school system before serving as an instructor at Mercer University. He said he was “pumped” to have garnered as much of the vote as he did against an incumbent.

“It’s clear that the folks that came out and supported me tonight wanted change,” Easter said.

To pick up the remaining votes needed to secure the seat on the board, Easter said he would stay the course he’s been on. He noted that many of Bibb County’s schools have scored below 60 on the College and Career Ready Performance Index, which the state considers to be failing.

“We’re going to continue to push our message — change is needed,” Easter said.

Valerie Wynn, the third District 6 candidate, is an insurance adjuster who said during her campaign that she had plans to retire. She got 636 votes for 11.85 percent.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 10:53 PM with the headline "Dillard holds on to Bibb BOE seat; others head to runoffs."