In the primary races for the Georgia Public Services Commission (PSC), District 2 incumbent Tim Echols sailed to victory Tuesday night, beating challenger Lee Muns in the Republican primary, winning 76% to 23% statewide.
Muns, a Columbia County resident, earned a much better margin on his home turf, receiving 41%.
“I am grateful that Republicans value the low rates and grid reliability allowing us to stay the number one state in which to do business,” Echols said.
Turnout was extremely light with only a little over of 75,000 votes cast statewide for the District 3 primary races combined. Democrat voters accounted for nearly double that of Republicans.
Echols will now face District 2 challenger Alicia Johnson who ran unopposed on the Democratic ballot.
District 3 incumbent Republican Fritz Johnson also ran unopposed. District Democrat Keisha Sean Waites did not make the 50% plus one threshold to avoid a runoff with Peter Hubbard. Robert Jones came in a distant third.
The District 3 race initially started with four candidates, but Daniel Blackman was removed from the ballot by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The removal was upheld in Superior Court.
The special election for the two open seats on the PSC will be held on Nov. 4, 2025.
The PSC is responsible for a wide range of supervisory activities including setting electric and gas rates and regulating the state’s utilities’ operations. Echols has been on the PSC since first winning election in 2010.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter, Editorial Page Editor and weekly columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
