Democrat-leaning voters flooded Augusta early voting sites Monday to decide contests for sheriff, district attorney, five Augusta Commission seats and whether to give the mayor a vote.
With four Richmond County Board of Elections voting sites open for three weeks prior to May 21, some 619 cast ballots Monday. Eighty-six percent chose a Democratic ballot, 10.5% voted Republican and 3.4% selected a nonpartisan ballot.
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The heaviest voting was at the Augusta Municipal Building where 283 voted early, with only 21 choosing a Republican ballot. Just under 200 people voted at Diamond Lakes Regional Park and 96 at Warren Road Community Center. The lowest turnout was at the Charles Evans Center on Highland Avenue, where 45 voted.
While about two-thirds of Augusta residents tend to vote Democrat, there may be another reason for the popularity of the ballot here. On it are closely-watched, contested primaries for sheriff and district attorney that have no parallel Republican primaries.
Three-term sheriff Richard Roundtree faces challenges from Deputy Marshal Eugene “Gino Rock” Brantley and Lucious “Bo” Johnson in the Democratic primary, while District Attorney Jared Williams faces a challenge from Amber Brantley. The unrelated Brantleys and Johnson have reached out to Republican voters at campaign events.
Opposition to Mayor Garnett Johnson’s push for a vote on all commission actions has grown increasingly vocal, with black-and-gold “Vote No” campaign signs lined up beside Johnson’s trademark blue and green “Vote Yes” outside the early voting sites.
Johnson got Senate members to drop a bill in February 2023 permitting a local referendum on the change, with support from half of the commission, leaving the rest crying foul.
Since consolidation of Augusta-Richmond County in 1996, the city’s mayor has only been allowed to vote to make or break a tie. The mayor rarely has this opportunity because on controversial measures, one side can easily use an abstention to prevent a 5-5 tie from occurring.
Johnson argued at a weekend forum that his effort was not a “power grab” and that he was told after taking office he’ll never get a vote until he is “trained how to vote,” that is, in line with the commission’s Black majority.
Johnson said asking voters to choose is democracy in action and preferable to “the wheelers and dealers in the back room” making decisions.
But speaking out against the proposal, former Commissioner Ben Hasan said that’s precisely what occurred when Johnson took the names of four white commissioners and one Black commissioner to Atlanta and asked for the senate bill.
“Guess what? You (voters) didn’t decide what was on the ballot. He never did ask your opinion,” Hasan said. “It’s not about yes or no. It’s about the people being informed about actually how we got there.”
Hasan said Johnson should have brought the request to a commission committee first.
What Johnson instead did “left the city in a dark place,” that will “minimize the Black community,” Hasan said.
Running for each of five nonpartisan commission seats include:
- District 1 incumbent Jordan Johnson, former commissioner Matt Aitken, Kenny Osorio and Jo’Rae Jenkins
- District 3 incumbent Catherine Smith McKnight, educator Carol Yancy and dentist Joidaz Gaines
- District 5 incumbent Bobby Williams and Don “DC” Clark
- District 7 challengers Tina Slendak and Marshall Bedder
- District 9 incumbent Francine Scott and former commissioner Marion Williams
The polling locations where registered Richmond County voters can vote early for any reason are:
- The Linda W. Beazley Room at Augusta Municipal Building, 535 Telfair St.
- The Charles Evans Community Center, 1866 Highland Ave.
- The Robert Howard Community Center, 103 Diamond Lakes Way
- Warren Road Recreation Center, 300 Warren Road
Columbia County
In Columbia County, day one of advanced voting saw 109 residents cast their ballots, with 97 voters going to the G3 building and 12 voter going to the former Euchre Creek Library, said Columbia County Elections Director Nancy Gay.
