It’s the first day of qualifying for the special election to see who will represent citizens of Georgia’s 54th state senate district after Charlie Bethel trades his “Senator” title for “Judge”. Former Whitfield County Republican Party Chairman Chuck Payne hit the ground running by being the first to qualify this morning. He will face two challengers who qualified today as well: Conda Goodson, who ran against Senator Bethel in the Republican Primary, and Debby Peppers, who is a member of the Whitfield County Board of Zoning Appeals with her last political involvement being with the Democratic Party (and north Georgia is heavily-Republican). She was also involved with the Dalton/Whitfield League of Women Voters, which she recently resigned to run for this open seat.
Qualifying will be held in the Secretary of State’s office both tomorrow and Thursday.