Voters will go to the polls for Georgia’s general primary election on May 21 to choose the candidates representing them in the November election for U.S. House of Representatives, State Senate, State House of Representatives, district attorney, and court justices.
Some congressional races are already set for November, but many are still to be determined based on primary election results.
Incumbent U.S. Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) will face two Republican “America First” challengers for District 11. According to her website, Lori Pesta calls her campaign “a patriotic calling to serve the land that has given so much to each of us,” and Michael Pons, whose priority is to “restore the American Dream” and the principles of the constitutional republic.
Vying for the Republican nomination for United States representative for the District 13 seat currently held by U.S. Representative David Scott (D-GA-13) are qualifying candidates Jonathan Chavez and Johsie Cruz Fletcher.
On his campaign website, Chavez pledges to “support the term limits bill introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz” and advocate for a Fair Tax. Cruz Fletcher’s website states she was part of the “Latinos for Trump of Georgia” grassroots movement in 2016. Priorities for Cruz Fletcher include securing the border and stopping indoctrination.
District 53 incumbent State Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton), who was endorsed by the Georgia Republican Assembly (GRA) with a 2023 legislative score of 100 percent, will face a challenge from Angela Pence, a military wife, mother, and small business owner candidate.
With a 2023 legislative score of 35 percent, District 32 incumbent, physician, and State Senator Kay Kirkpatrick’s website states that she advocates for victims of domestic violence, healthcare, and veterans issues.
Kirkpatrick faces GRA-endorsed challenger Ben Paul Fremer. Fremer’s website states that his campaign is “fully self-funded.” He is running on a platform that supports American values, election integrity, and preventing political persecution.
In District 22, Republican State House Representative incumbent Jordan Ridley, who, according to the GRA, “had a legislative score of 43 percent in 2023,” faces GRA-endorsed candidate Paul Kettering, who pledges to be a “voice of the people.”
According to the Democratic composite sample ballot for Fulton County, attorney Christian Wise Smith, who is running on a platform of “justice, equality, and community,” is challenging incumbent Fani Willis for the district attorney position.
Georgia 5th Superior Court Judge and incumbent Scott McAfee faces attorney and community advocate Robert Hillard Patillo II and former Fulton County Assistant Solicitor General Tiffani Johnson. Johnson is currently appealing a disqualification issue but appears on the Republican composite sample ballot.
Incumbent Patrick “Pat” Labat faces three challengers for Fulton County Sheriff. Kirt Beasley, James “JT” Brown, and Joyce Farmer. The Georgia Star News previously reported that the challengers “plan to improve prison conditions through a combination of additional staff, increased scrutiny of incoming inmates, and upgraded housing” in the wake of several inmate deaths that have occurred within Fulton County’s prison system. Charles Rambo will be a write-in candidate in November.
Nineteen questions are on the Republican composite sample ballot for Fulton County voters, including questions that will determine if voters want paper ballots, a Fair Tax, the removal of non-citizens who entered the country illegally, biological men using women’s restrooms, and whether the World Health Organization (WHO) should manage future pandemics in the U.S.
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Debra McClure is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Follow Debra on X / Twitter
Photo “Election Day” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
