A special election Tuesday cemented primary choices for the Public Service Commission and an open seat on the Winterville City Council, despite low turnout.
Tim Echols won the Republican primary for District 2 of the Public Service Commission statewide, with 85.5% of the vote in Oglethorpe County, and Fitz Johnson, who ran unopposed, will stand as the Republican candidate for District 3 of the PSC.
Alicia Johnson, who also ran unopposed, won the District 2 Democratic primary for the PSC, and Keisha Sean Waites, a former state representative and Atlanta city council member, secured the most votes in the District 3 Democratic primary, with 45% of the vote in Oglethorpe County and 46% statewide. However, her results fell just under 50%, triggering a runoff against Peter Hubbard, a clean-energy advocate.
The runoff will be July 15, and early voting will start no later than July 7.
Turnout was extremely low statewide, with early voting reaching just 1% in Georgia. Oglethorpe County, however, fared slightly better before Election Day.
“In fact, I think we were in the top 10 or 12 (counties) in the state, percentage-wise (for early voting),” Election Assistant Steve McCannon said. “We hadn’t even done but 2% before today.”
Oglethorpe County’s final turnout was 3.82%, which meant 446 voters total out of 11,662 registered.
“(We) hadn’t had a lot of people vote,” McCannon said. “But everything (went) smoothly.”
The PSC is a statewide regulatory commission with five members who have exclusive power to decide what rates are fair and reasonable for certain public services.
Each PSC member represents different areas. District 2 represents Oglethorpe County and much of east Georgia, while District 3 represents much of metro Atlanta. Each member must reside in their district; however, they are elected statewide, with all Georgians electing every member.
This was the source of controversy for the PSC, which hasn’t held an election since 2020.
In 2022, the PSC general election was canceled after a judge found the statewide election process to be in violation of the Voting Rights Act — noting the system allowed for very few people of color to be elected. The case was still under appeal in 2024, so the election was canceled again.
Daniel Blackman, who appeared on the ballot as a candidate for the Democratic primary for District 3, was disqualified from the race on June 10, just a week before the election, after failing to prove his residency in District 3. Any votes for Blackman will be disqualified.
Winterville City Council
In a close race for an open seat, it’s projected — as of 9 a.m. Wednesday morning — that Timothy Pierce won the special election for Winterville City Council with 35% of the vote, or 73 total votes at that time.
Heidi Spratlin came in at a close second with 33% or 69 total votes, followed by Dianne Greene (26%; 54 total votes) and Isaac Swier (5%; 11 total votes), all as of Wednesday morning.
The seat has been open since Tina Mills resigned from the Winterville City Council in September 2024 to become the interim director of the Winterville Cultural Center.
Winterville Mayor Dodd Ferrelle said in April that he had high hopes for this vacancy.
“I hope that they come in with their own ideas about how to further Winterville and to do what we’ve been trying to do over the last four years to maintain the charm of our historic train town, while rolling with the progress in the development that’s all around us,” Ferrelle said.