Several Polk County incumbents faced tough challenges in Tuesday’s general primary election, with one county commissioner losing her seat and congressional incumbent Clay Fuller securing the Republican nomination for a full term.
U.S. House — District 14
U.S. Rep. Clay Fuller of Lookout Mountain won the Republican primary in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District — his second election win in two months — defeating nine candidates to secure a spot in the November general election. Fuller previously triumphed in an April runoff to serve the remainder of former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s term. Greene resigned after a falling out with President Donald Trump. Fuller’s opponent in that April runoff, Shawn Harris, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, setting up a rematch between the two in November.
Georgia Senate — District 31
Incumbent Jason R. Anavitarte easily turned back a Republican primary challenge from Daniel Davenport, winning 79.3 percent of the vote to Davenport’s 20.7 percent, with 16,470 votes to 4,298. On the Democratic side, Alec Miller defeated Josh Plancher 69.5 percent to 30.5 percent — 8,547 votes to 3,751 — to advance to the November general election against Anavitarte. Both localities reported in both races.
Polk County Commission
District 2 was the night’s marquee local race. Johnny Crawford defeated incumbent Linda Liles in the Republican primary, capturing 54.4 percent of the vote to Liles’ 27.6 percent. Terry Marangakis finished third with 18.1 percent. On the Democratic side, Roderick “Rah Rah” Turner ran unopposed, collecting 1,229 votes.
In District 1, incumbent David D. McElwee survived a close challenge from Chip Popham, winning the Republican primary 52.4 percent to 47.6 percent — a margin of just 254 votes out of more than 5,200 cast.
District 3 was less competitive. Lee Burch dominated Marshelle Thaxton in the Republican primary, winning nearly 75 percent of the vote.
Polk County Board of Education
Robin Forston defeated Greg Forrister in the District 1 Republican primary, 55.1 percent to 44.9 percent. In the District 2 Democratic primary, Forrest McCombs Jr. unseated incumbent Bernard Morgan, 59.8 percent to 40.2 percent. Steven L. Wells won the District 4 Republican primary with more than 70 percent of the vote. Incumbent Judi Renshaw ran unopposed in District 7.
All precincts and localities reported Tuesday night. Results are unofficial until certified by the applicable county boards of elections.