By Bryant Thigpen
Riverbend News
The 2020 Primary Election was held on Tuesday, Aug. 18, and the ballots have been counted and the winners have been announced. Here are the results of the primary election in Suwannee, Hamilton and Lafayette counties.
FEDERAL
State Representative District 5
(Hamilton County)
Democrat Al Lawson won his election for State Representive District 5 with a total of 52,823 votes. His opponents Albert Chester received 24,578 votes and LaShonda “L.J.” Holloway received 17,378 votes. In Hamilton County, Lawson won the vote for Representative in Congress District 5 with 866 votes. Albert Chester finished with 534 votes, and LaShonda “L.J.” Holloway had 255 votes.
Lawson will face off against Republican nominee Gary Adler, who won his race against Roger Wagoner. Adler finished with 17,433 votes and Wagoner finished a close race with 16,012 total votes. In Hamilton County, Wagoner finished with 1,153 votes, while Adler finished with 345 votes.
STATE
State Attorney Circuit 3 Seat
(Suwannee, Hamilton and Lafayette counties)
John F. Durrett won the race for the State Attorney Circuit 3 Seat by a total of 24,919 votes over Tina Seifert, who collected 17,172 votes. In Lafayette County, John F. Durrett received 1,290 votes, and Seifert received 1,020 votes. In Suwannee County, Durrett received 5,507 votes and Seifert collected 4,287 votes. In Hamilton County, Durrett collected 1,776 votes, and Seifert received 1,503 votes.
State Senator District 5
(Lafayette and Suwannee counties)
Jennifer Bradley won the race for State Senator District 5 with a total of 47,395 votes. Her opponent, Jason G. Holifield fell short with 32,944 votes. In Lafayette County, Holifield, collected the most votes with a total of 1,177 votes. Bradley had only 684 votes. In Suwannee County, Bradley collected 3,463votes, while her opponent, Holifield, received 2,952 votes.
State Senator District 3 (Hamilton County)
In a race for State Senator District 3, Marva Harris Preston won the election with a total of 31,684 votes over John Thaddeus Alexander Benjamin Horbowy, who collected 8,555 total votes. In Hamilton County, Preston collected 1,051 of the votes and Horbowy finished with 403 votes.
LOCAL
Lafayette County
There are 4,432 registered voters in Lafayette County, and 54 percent (2,397) of the voters casted their ballots for this election.
Brian Lamb won the primary election with 1,472 votes. Kyle Johnson had a total of 446 votes.
Lamb will face write-in opponent Kevin Sullivan in the November election for sheriff.
Incumbent Chuck Hewett won the race for Tax Collector with 1,733 votes. Johnathan McCray collected 644 votes.
Incumbent Lisa Walker won the seat for County Commissioner District 3 with 1,451 votes. Donald C. Millay, Jr., had a total of 905 votes.
Incumbent Amanda Tidwell Hickman won the election to represent District 4 on the Lafayette County School Board with 1,270 votes. Scott Jackson finished the close race with 1,053 votes.
Suwannee County
There are 26,866 registered voters in Suwannee County, and 37 percent (10,017) of the voters casted their ballots for this election.
Ricky Gamble won the race for Suwannee County Property Appraiser with 4,657 votes. Wade Thomas came in second with 3,177 votes and Bebe Roberson collected 2,086 votes.
Incumbent Don Hale, Jr., will continue to represent District 1 on the Board of County Commissioners with 1,776 votes. His opponent, Brooks Carroll, had 626 votes.
Travis Land won the seat as County Commissioner for District 3 with 1,316 votes. Steven Kirby finished with 759 votes and Cricinda “Cinda” Foster received 300 votes.
Franklin White was elected to serve as a County Commissioner for District 5 with 1,553 votes. His opponent, Ronnie Richardson, received 949 votes.
Monica Ford-Davis won the race between four candidates for Suwannee County School Board District 2 with 248 votes. She will now run against Norman Cason for the general election in November. Norman Crawford received 200 votes. Catherine Cason finished with 181 votes and Jacqueline “Jackie” Cherry finished last with 108 votes.
Hamilton County
There are 7,901 registered voters in Hamilton County, and 44 percent (3,537) of the voters casted their ballots for this election.
Incumbent J. Harrell Reid will remain the sheriff of Hamilton County with 2,579 votes. His opponent, Steve Livingston, collected 917 votes.
James “Jimmy” Murphy won the race for County Commission District 1 with 304 votes, overcoming incumbent Beth Burnam with 274 votes.
Incumbent Robert Brown won the race for County Commissioner District 3 with 345 votes. Calvin Paul finished with 251 votes.
Incumbent Saul Speights collected the most votes for School Board District 3 with 400 votes. Jeanie L. Daniels finished with 202 votes.
