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4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, June 1,2022
Bruce wins Board of Commissioners District 3
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County native and for
mer Public Works employee
Alexa Bruce is the winner in the
Republican race for the Dawson
County Board of Commissioners
District 3 seat with 67.82 percent
or 3,887 votes.
Dental consultant and realtor
Deanna Dickinson got 32.18 per
cent or 1,844 votes. Percentages
are based on an elections summa
ry report DCN received from the
Dawson County Board of
Elections and Registration 10:30
p.m. Tuesday.
“I am so humbled and blessed
to win the District 3
Commissioner seat for Dawson
County BOC,” Bruce said in a
Wednesday Facebook post.
“Thank you, Deanna Morris
Dickinson for a hard-
fought race. [I’m] thank
ful to you for keeping me
on my toes.”
Bruce said in a Friday
interview with DCN that
she’s looking forward to
working with county col
leagues and hopes to be
able to make sound, ethi
cal voting decisions based on
what county citizens want.
“It’s not what Alexa wants, or
what staff or other commissioners
want or have asked me to vote on,
but [it’s] truly listening to our
constituents and finding out what
best suits Dawson County as a
whole,” she said.
Bruce will replace District 3
Commissioner Tim Satterfield,
who is stepping down from the
position when his term ends later
this year.
Because both
Dickinson and Bruce are
Republican candidates,
no other election will be
held for this seat. As
District 3 commissioner-
elect, Bruce will take
office on Jan. 1, 2023.
Bruce plans to have at
least several office hours a
week at the Dawson County
Government Center to meet face-
to-face with constituents.
The election for BOC District 3
centered around the candidates’
visions for how future growth
should happen in Dawson
County, which the U.S. Census
deemed the third-fastest growing
county in Georgia.
“No matter win or lose, I pray
I’ve opened some eyes concern
ing our lack of infrastructure
here,” Dickinson wrote in a
Tuesday night post.
BOC District 1
Newcomer and sole candidate
Seth Stowers earned 100 percent
of the vote from Dawson County
residents, or 5,742 votes.
Stowers, a large animal veterinar
ian and farmer, will replace
Sharon Fausett, who is stepping
down from the position when her
term ends later this year.
Since Jason Power voluntarily
dropped out of the race soon after
qualifying, Stowers did not have
any opponents, making him the
District 1 commissioner-elect. He
will take office on Jan. 1, 2023.
Dawson County Board of
Education at large
Nathan Ingram (R) earned 100
percent of the vote from Dawson
County residents, or 5,668 votes.
Ingram ran unopposed, so he is
the BOE at large member-elect.
He will take office on Jan. 1,
2023.
Dawson County Board of
Education District 3
Karen Armstrong (R) earned
100 percent of the vote from
Dawson County residents, or
5,622 votes. Armstrong ran unop
posed, so she is the BOE District
3 member-elect. She will take
office on Jan. 1,2023.
As for the difference in vote
totals between the different coun
ty races, Board of Elections and
Registration Director Glenda
Ferguson explained in a follow
up call with DCN Wednesday
that some people voted in one but
not another race.
Bruce
Incumbent Wade re-elected to District 9 House seat
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
Incumbent Republican Will
Wade has defeated Republican
candidate Tyler Tolin for the seat
of Georgia State House District 9
Representative in the May 24,
2022 election.
In Georgia’s House District 9,
which includes portions of
Dawson, Lumpkin and White
Counties, Wade received 81.54%
of the votes (9,327 votes), defeat
ing Tolin by approximately 7,215
votes.
Who he is: Wade is a Dawson
County native, former Dawson
County Board of Education
member and community banker.
He has served as Georgia House
District 9 Representative since
January of 2021, after winning
the November 2020 election for
the seat.
How he reacted: In an inter
view with DCN on the morning
of Wednesday May 25, Wade
said that he feels honored and
humbled by the support of local
voters in the election.
“I’d like to say thank you to the
community that I love so much
that I’ve been a part of my entire
life,” Wade said. “It’s a part of my
DNA and it’s truly hum
bling that more than 8 out
of 10 voters in this district
trust me to be the repre
sentative in their seat, to
be their voice.”
He said that, as the
incumbent, he has been
working hard to represent
District 9 and plans to
continue to work just as hard
moving forward.
“I’m just honored and blown
away by that outpouring of sup
port in the ballot box; I don’t take
that lightly and I will continue to
work hard on the issues that mat
ter most to this district as well as
other Georgians across the state,”
Wade said.
He added that he wishes his
opponent, Tyler Tolin, the very
best moving forward into whatev
er is next for him.
“To those that supported my
opponent, I’m gonna represent
you with every bit of myself and
do what I think is best,” Wade
said. “I wish him well in his
future and I thank him for his ser
vice to our nation as a former
member of the military.”
What’s next: As he moves into
his next term as state house repre
sentative, Wade said that he hopes
to help expand the con
versation about tax cuts,
continue his work and
advocacy for good quality
public education and
potentially join the trans
portation committee.
“I’d really like to see us
expand the conversation
surrounding additional
tax cuts, especially to the income
tax,” Wade said. “I think we can
continue to make headway on
strategically reducing and getting
rid of the income tax, but we’ve
also gotta take a really hard look
at things like tax credits and tax
exemptions at the state level, so I
wanna continue to work on that
effort.”
During his time in office during
his current term, Wade has been a
voice and an advocate for public
education policy, and he said that
he plans to continue on with this
goal in his next term.
“I want to continue to be a
voice for good quality education
policy that keeps the student and
the family at the center of that
legislation while also hearing and
listening to educators that bring a
wealth of information and knowl
edge to help provide really, really
important insight into what’s
gonna make our schools even
better — not just schools in this
district but schools across the
state of Georgia,” Wade said.
While he does not currently
serve on the transportation com
mittee, Wade said that he hopes
to get involved and join this com
mittee moving forward, in hopes
of helping the county and city
keep up with the growth that has
come about in the past several
years.
“In our area, with the fact that
we’ve seen as much growth that
we have seen over the last several
years, I wanna make sure that
I’ve got a seat at the table,” Wade
said. “I want to make sure that we
allocate the resources fairly to
this district to help the county and
the city deal with the growth that
we’ve seen over the last 4 years
of a very, very thriving economy.”
He added that he hopes to open
a small office in the Dawson
County community soon, to give
his constituents a chance to more
easily set up face-to-face meet
ings with him and voice their
questions or concerns.
“I’ll be announcing that soon;
that way, if there are people that
have questions or needs in the
district then I can schedule meet
ings with them,” Wade said. “I
also hope to continue having a
relationship with the University
of North Georgia — my wife and
I sponsor a scholarship for two
students at UNG — and this
would give them an opportunity
to help with constituent services.”
Wade added that he’s incredi
bly encouraged by the large turn
out of voters who came out to
make their voices heard during
this election, and that he hopes
that just as many voters will
come out to participate in the
upcoming November election.
“I hope folks will continue to
come back out and vote with
such enthusiasm in November
because we need to make sure we
continue on the path that we’re
on,” Wade said. “I always think if
it isn’t broke don’t fix it and
Brian Kemp has done a phenom
enal job as our governor and I
think that folks at the ballot box
sent a message that was clear that
they trust him to continue to be at
the helm for state policy and for
state leadership in Georgia.”
Wade will end his current term
and begin his next term in
January of 2023.
Wade
Christian celebrates Dem.
primary win with his wife
Staff Reports
Democrat Bob Christian won his pri
mary for the District 6 seat with a pro
jected 55.55 percent of the vote, while
Wayne White got 45.45 percent.
“From there, it’s just a march on to
Washington D.C.,” Christian said at his
watch party. “I feel great at the
moment.”
Christian elaborated that he
and his campaign’s plan now is
to focus on things that matter to
District 6 voters, as opposed to
his opponents, particularly on
the Republican side.
“They’re still talking about
how much they can be like
[President] Trump,” he said, later add
ing, “They (voters) have a choice about
somebody that actually cares about
what’s happening in the sixth District
and is looking for those solutions, ver
sus somebody who wants to scream and
yell and fight culture wars, not trying to
focus on what you and I care about.”
Wayne White highlighted the greater-
than-expected turnout in an email to
DCN, saying that happened despite
heavier press coverage of the District 6
GOP candidates.
White added that the majority of
District 6 citizens believe in background
checks for firearm purchases, supporting
NATO and Ukraine and protecting
Social Security and Medicare.
“As the voters see the facts that Bob
Christian better represents traditional
American values than Rich McCormick,
be prepared to see him (Christian) pre
vail in November,” White said.
During May 1 debates hosted by The
Atlanta Press Club and aired by GPB,
Rich McCormick, Jake Evans and Bob
Christian each shared different empha
ses on issues including voting, govern
ment spending and infrastruc
ture.
As a lawyer who’s previously
argued for elections integrity in
court, Evans has promoted a
scale back in absentee voting,
prosecution of voter fraud, elec
tion audits, lawyer immunity and
ID requirements.
During the debate, McCormick
mentioned his experience with
narrow vote counts in the last U.S.
House election. He also spoke on infla
tion and healthcare costs, military
spending and the necessity of maintain
ing road infrastructure with increasing
traffic to areas like Forsyth County.
At that time, Evans also echoed the
importance of ensuring that District 6
roads can handle traffic and help main
tain sustainable growth.
During a forum hosted by the Kiwanis
Club of Forsyth County, Christian
emphasized supporting school teachers
and studying why more states don’t par
ticipate in the public health care option,
Affordable Care Act, also known as
Obamacare.
Christian also called clean electricity
and more electricity infrastructure in
general key for growing areas like
District 6.
Christian
McCormick, Evans head to
runoff for District 6 GOP spot
Evans
Staff reports
Doctor and veteran Rich McCormick
and lawyer Jake Evans will face off again
in a runoff election after becoming
the top two contenders for the
Republican U.S. District 6 spot.
McCormick got 43.15 percent
and Evans got 23.03 percent as of
3 p.m. Wednesday.
There will be a runoff election
on June 21, since neither Evans or
McCormick was able to gamer
more than 50 percent of the vote.
Other Republican District 6
candidates garnered the following
projected vote percentages:
• Third: Mallory Staples,
8.95%
• Fourth: Meagan Hanson,
8.4%
• Fifth: Eugene Yu, 6.52%
• Sixth: Blake Harbin,
3.67%
• Seventh: Byron Gatewood, 2.96%
• Eighth: Suzi Voyles, 2.33%
• Ninth: Paulette Smith, .99%
“My family and our campaign is hum
bled by the support of voters in the 6th
district last night. But our work is not
done. I have never backed down from a
fight and I look forward to finishing this
mission with you on June 21,” said Dr.
Rich McCormick on Twitter.
Jake Evans pointed to his campaign’s
momentum thus far in a Wednesday
statement.
“The time is now for a new generation
McCormick
of leaders to put a stop to the radical
Biden/Pelosi agenda, attack inflation and
restore American principles back to our
institutions,” Evans said. “I will deliver
on these issues while never for
getting my first job is serving
the people of metro Atlanta and
North Georgia.”
During May 1 debates hosted
by The Atlanta Press Club and
aired by GPB, Rich
McCormick, Jake Evans and
Bob Christian each shared dif
ferent emphases on issues
including voting, government
spending and infrastructure.
As a lawyer who’s previously
argued for elections integrity in
court, Evans has promoted a
scale back in absentee voting,
prosecution of voter fraud, elec
tion audits, lawyer immunity
and ID requirements.
During the debate, McCormick men
tioned his experience with narrow vote
counts in the last U.S. House election. He
also spoke on inflation and healthcare
costs, military spending and the necessity
of maintaining road infrastructure with
increasing traffic to areas like Forsyth
County.
At that time, Evans also echoed the
importance of ensuring that District 6
roads can handle traffic and help main
tain sustainable growth.
The winner of the Republican runoff
for U.S. District 6 will face Democrat
Bob Christian in the Nov. 8 election.
Camp Invention coming back to Dawson this June
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
This June, nationally recognized non
profit summer enrichment program Camp
Invention will return to Dawson County,
aimed at teaching important STEM skills
to local students in kindergarten through
sixth grade.
According to a release by the camp,
Camp Invention is a program of the
National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF),
in partnership with the United States
Patent and Trademark Office, and is made
to challenge students to use their creativity
to solve problems and to explore their nat
ural curiosity.
“Through hands-on activities, Camp
Invention promotes STEM (science, tech
nology, engineering and mathematics)
learning; builds confidence, leadership,
perseverance and resourcefulness; and
encourages entrepreneurship — all in a fun
and engaging environment,” the release
said. “In the unprecedented times we’re all
experiencing, with ‘unfinished learning’
and other challenges due to COVID-19,
these lessons and opportunities for fun
ways to learn are even more valuable.”
Each year, Camp Invention features new
curriculum, and according to the release,
this year’s “Explore” program will include
hands-on activities such as:
Robotic Aquatics: Featuring cutting-
edge ocean research and allowing children
to adopt their own aquatic animals and
design and patent aquatic plants.
NIHF’s The Attic: Combining science
and art to build a robotic artist, engage in
design thinking, make spin art and learn
how inventions can change the way peo
ple create.
Spacecation: Discovering real space
exploration technology and allowing chil
dren to create Spacepacks and Astro-Arm
devices, mine an asteroid and observe
erupting ice volcanoes.
Marble Arcade: Experimenting with
physics, engineering and gaming to
design, build and test mega marble
arcades.
According to the release, the 2022
Camp Invention program will follow state
and local guidelines to help provide a
healthy, safe and fun environment for the
students.
In Dawson County, this year’s Camp
Invention program will take place from
June 20 through June 24 at Dawson
County Junior High School, located at 109
Allen Street. For more information includ
ing pricing or to register for the camp, go
to https ://invent-web.ungerboeck.com/pro-
gramsearch/moreinfo.aspx?event=37141.
