Jones County voters will have a full slate of political races to make decisions on next Tuesday, as the November 5 General Election ballot has contests ranging from governor to constable. All five supervisor seats are yet to be decided, and the sheriff’s race does not have a candidate with the last name of Hodge in it for the first time in a dozen years. Three-term Sheriff Alex Hodge will relinquish the top law enforcement chair in Jones County to either Independent candidate Joe Berlin or Republican Macon Davis.
Berlin has over two decades of law enforcement experience, starting his law enforcement career in Sandersville in 1997. He currently works as a sergeant over a special operations division for the Laurel Police Department.
Berlin is persuaded he can work within the current budget parameters of the sheriff’s office, and he said at a campaign rally earlier this summer that he wanted to foster the working relationship between the sheriff’s department and other local law enforcement agencies. He also believes that law enforcement agencies need the help of the community to solve crimes, so he plans to focus on building a better relationship between the department and residents if the voters make him sheriff.
Davis, who went head to head with Hodge and another Republican challenger, Paul Sumrall, back in August, nearly wrapped up the Republican nomination on August 6 during the primary election, when he pulled in 49 percent of the vote. Sumrall, who later endorsed Davis, was eliminated after that first night, leaving Davis in a direct match-up with Hodge on August 27 in the run-off. Hodge had won his third term four years earlier (November 2015) with 75 percent of the vote against Independent Sylvester Busby. The voters went a different route this time, however, as Davis garnered nearly 58 percent of the vote in the run-off and stamped his name on the November ballot.
Davis, like Berlin, also believes he can make the current budget dollars work for the sheriff’s office, and he has said that tackling the illegal narcotics problem in the county will be one of his top priorities if elected sheriff. He also wants to shore up the auxiliary deputy unit.
Chancery Clerk Bart Gavin Jr. has not faced any opposition this election cycle, and Tina Gatlin Byrd finished off the tax assessor collector race back in August in convincing style.
Circuit Clerk Concetta Brooks was unopposed back in August but will face independent Colenia Ross next week.
Two Jones County natives, Shad White and Rickey L. Cole, are on the ballot for statewide offices, although White does not have a challenger in the state auditor race. Cole, a Democrat from Ovett, will square off with Republican Andy Gipson for the commissioner of agriculture & commerce position.
District 34 State Senator Juan Barnett will face Republican contender Steven L. Wade, but the rest of the Jones County state delegation (Senator Chris McDaniel, Representative Omeria Scott, Representative Ramona Q. Blackledge and Representative Donnie Scoggin) already have their place at the legislative table for this term.
Perhaps the most interesting of the supervisor races in Jones County will be Beat 2 and Beat 5, simply because the incumbent in both of those beats (Danny Roy Spradley and Jerome Wyatt) chose to not run this term. In the Beat 2 race, both candidates have public service experience. Republican Larry Dykes is a former sheriff, and Independent Ronnie Herrington is currently in his seventh year of serving on the Jones County School Board.
Independent candidate Chris Holifield and Democrat Travares Comegys, who presently serves on the Laurel City Council, are attempting to replace Wyatt.
Beat 1 Supervisor Johnny Burnett handily won his August run-off race with over 60 percent of the vote and will now tangle with Bobby Brady Jr., an Independent Party candidate.
Phil Dickerson, a Republican, and Donald Dale Holifield, an Independent, will vie for control of Beat 3. Holifield is a former supervisor, while Dickerson made his way onto the November ballot by beating incumbent Barry Saul back on August 27 by a double-digit margin. Beat 4 Incumbent David Scruggs, who made a strong showing on August 6 in defeating former Supervisor Andy Dial, has two Independent Party candidates (Bobby D. Barber and Michael James) running to unseat him.
Justice Court Judges Billie G. Graham (District 2) and David Lyons (District 3) will not face a challenge next week. However, voters living in primarily the southwest part of the county will see three names on the ballot for the District 1 Justice Court judge seat: Democrat Marian A. Allen, Republican C. Grant Hedgepeth and Independent Larry Blakeney.
Republican Danny Gibson and Democrat Le’Byron O’Keith Jackson will go head to head for the District 2 constable post. The constables in District 1 and District 3, Mike Sumrall and David Livingston, will not be challenged next week.
Voters are most familiar with the names of Democrat Jim Hood and Republican Tate Reeves in the governor’s race, but there is also a Constitution Party candidate (Bob Hickingbottom) and an Independent Party candidate (David R. Singletary) running for the state’s highest office.