2002
Thomas County
elections (with map of county commission districts)
Six constitutional amendments and five referendum
questions
Statewide
elections:
Max Cleland (Incumbent)
P.O. Box 7809
Atlanta, GA 30357
E-Mail: contact@friendsofmax.com Party: Democrat
Age: 59
Occupation: U.S. Senator
Website: www.maxcleland2002.com
Saxby Chambliss
P.O. Box 12469
Atlanta, GA 30355
E-Mail: info@saxby.org Party: Republican
Age: 58
Occupation: US Congressman
Website: www.saxby.org
Claude "Sandy" Thomas
E-Mail: Sandy@sandy2002.com Party: Libertarian
Age: 60
Occupation: Consultant
Website: www.sandy2002.com
Roy E. Barnes (Incumbent)
P.O. Box 161
Mableton, GA 30126
E-Mail: win@barnesgovernor.org Party: Democrat
Age: 54
Occupation: Governor
Website: www.barnesgovernor.org
Sonny Perdue
P.O. Box 81647
Atlanta, GA 30366
E-Mail: info@votesonny.com Party: Republican
Age: 55
Occupation: AgriBusiness
Website: www.votesonny.com
Garrett Michael Hayes
E-Mail: ghayes@hayesforgovernor.com Party: Libertarian
Age: 46
Occupation: writer & consultant
Website: www.hayesforgovernor.com
Bill Bolton
David Byrne
1761 Georgian Terrace
Sam Hay
Mark Taylor (Incumbent)
P.O. Box 1156
Albany, GA 31702 Party: Democrat
Age: 45
Occupation: Lieutenant Governor
Website: www.marktaylor.com
Steve Stancil
9910 Highway 92
E-Mail: steve@stevestancil.com Party: Republican
Age: 49
Occupation: Real Estate Appraiser
Website: www.stevestancil.com
Hebert F. (Herbie) Galloway, III
E-Mail: hfg3@hotmail.com Party: Libertarian
Age: 41
Occupation: Building Engineer
Website: www.herbiegalloway.com
Hugh Esco
Cathy Cox (Incumbent)
P.O. Box 29605
Atlanta, GA 30359
E-Mail: cathycox@mindspring.com Party: Democrat
Age: 43
Occupation: attorney/Secretary of State
Website: www.cathycox.com
Charlie Bailey
E-Mail: charlie.bailey@mindspring.com Party: Republican
Age: 57
Occupation: Consultant
Mike Pitts
E-Mail: mikephs@mindspring.com Party: Libertarian
Age: 29
Occupation: Courier
Thurbert Baker (Incumbent)
P.O. Box 7396
Atlanta, GA 30357-0396
E-Mail: hq@thurbertbaker.com Party: Democrat
Age: 49
Occupation: lawyer/Attorney General
Shannon Goessling
P.O. Box 1665
Marietta, GA 30061 Party: Republican
Age: 34
Occupation: Attorney/Businessowner
Barbara Christmas
2900 Mitchell Cove
Atlanta, GA 30319
E-Mail: b1225@bellsouth.net Party: Democrat
Age: 56
Occupation: assocation executive
Website: www.friendsofchristmas.com
Kathy Cox
P.O. Box 2316
Peachtree City, GA 30269
E-Mail: mskcox@aol.com Party: Republican
Age: 37
Occupation: Teacher
Website: www.kathycox.com
Lynn Krogseng
E-Mail: krogseng@mindspring.com Party: Libertarian
Age: 43
Occupation: Self-Employed
Website: www.lynnkrogseng.org
Tommy Irvin (Incumbent)
1508 Toccoa Hwy
Mount Airy, GA 30563 Party: Democrat
Age: 72
Occupation: Commissioner of Agriculture
Website: www.tommyirvincampaign.com
Deanna Strickland
5680 Brooklet Denmark Road
Brooklet, GA 30415-6436
E-Mail: deannastricklandagcomm@hotmail.com Party: Republican
Age: 56
Occupation: Farmer
Website: www.deannastrickland.com
Doug Morton
3800
E-Mail: dougm@dougmorton.org Party: Libertarian
Age: 32
Occupation: Technical Engineer
Website: www.dougmorton.org
Kerrie Dickson
Commissioner Of Insurance
Lois N. Cohen
4218 West Field Drive
Columbus, GA 31907 Party: Democrat
Age: 55
Occupation: stockbroker
Website: www.loiscohen.com
John W. Oxendine (Incumbent)
P.O. 54151
Atlanta, GA 30308
E-Mail: ox2002@mindspring.com Party: Republican
Age: 40
Occupation: Comissioner of Insurance
Website: www.johnoxendine.com
Helmut Forren
E-Mail: helmut@forren.org Party: Libertarian
Age: 43
Occupation: Electrical Engineer
Website: www.forren.org
Michael “Mike” Thurmond (Incumbent)
P.O. Box 361148
Decatur, GA 30036 Party: Democrat
Age: 49
Occupation: Commissioner of Labor
Website: www.mikethurmond.com
Richard McGee
P.O.Box 738
Waycross, GA 31502
E-Mail: richard@mcgeeforlabor.com Party: Republican
Age: 62
Occupation: Real Estate Broker
Website: www.mcgeeforlabor.com
William Costa
E-Mail: william@williamcosta.org Party: Libertarian
Age: 34
Occupation: Food Service
Website: www.williamcosta.org
Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, Jr. (Incumbent)
150 Sawanee Drive
Cumming
Party: Democrat
Age: 63
Occupation: Public Service Commissioner
Angela Elizabeth Speir
3783 Meeting Street
Culuth, GA 30096
E-Mail: angspeir@earthlink.net Party: Republican
Age: 34
Occupation: Independent Employment Recruiter
James W. "Jimmy" Harris
E-Mail: wood@mindspring.com Party: Libertarian
Age: 48
Occupation: Freelance Writer
Website: www.libertyandenergy.com
Earleen W. Sizemore (Incumbent)
2934 Hwy 256
Sylvester, GA 31791 Party: Democrat
Age: 63
Occupation: Educator
H. Doug Everett
2355 Bascom Drive
Albany, GA 31707-1879 Party: Republican
Age: 64
Occupation: Real Estate Appraiser
Congressional
Elections:
2nd Congressional District
Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (I), (D), 53.6% in '00, 5th term
Legislative
districts for
Map
of Thomas County showing House district lines
Map
of Thomas County showing Senate district lines
Golden, Timothy R. (Incumbent)
P.O. Box 1251
Valdosta, GA 31603
E-Mail: tgolden@legis.state.ga.us Party: Democrat
Age: 48
Occupation: Printing Company Executive
Ragan, Harold J. (Incumbent)
1296 Crine Blvd., N.W.
Cairo, GA 31728
E-Mail: hragan@legis.state.ga.us Party: Democrat
Age: 74
Occupation: Retired Vocational Agriculure Teacher
Bulloch, John Douglas
3554 Bulloch Rd.
Ochlocknee, GA 31773
E-Mail: jbulloch@rose.net Party: Republican
Age: 55
Occupation: Farmer
Ed Rynders
P.O. Box 70938
Albany, GA 31708
E-Mail: rynders2002@aol.com Party: Republican
Age: 42
Occupation: Buisnessman
Craig S. Mathis
P.O. Box 689
Leesburg, GA 31763
E-Mail: craigmathis@justice.com Party: Democrat
Age: 40
Occupation: attorney
Sholar, Wallace (Incumbent)
P. O. Box 868
Cairo, GA 31728 Party: Democrat
Age: 63
Occupation: Grocer - Semi-retired
Lanny Nicholson
4136 Lower Hawthorne Trail
Calvery, GA 31728 Party: Republican
Age: 61
Occupation: Salesman
Broome, Hugh D. (Incumbent)
8003 East Cypress Drive
Donalsonville, GA 31745 Party: Democrat
Age: 60
Occupation: Legislator
Ed Titus
P.O. Box 3488
Thomasville, GA 31799
E-Mail: ettville@yahoo.com Party: Republican
Age: 68
Occupation: Management Consultant
Black, Calvin Ellis (Incumbent)
5900 Jumping Gully Road
Valdosta, GA 31601 Party: Democrat
Age: 59
Occupation: Farmer
Thomas
For a map of the county commission districts, click here.
District 1
Term expires
I.L. Mullins (D) incumbent
District 3 Meigs & Ochlocknee
Term expires
--Bobby Brown, ( R ), incumbent
--L.D. Johnson (Write-in candidate)
--Dennis V. Knight (Write-in candidate)
1873 Pummy Rd.
Ochlocknee, GA 31773
District 5
Term expires
--Josh Herring, (D), incumbent
--Frank Mitchell (Write-in candidate)
District 7
Term expires
Vice-Chairman Karl Abrams declined to run again.
--Robert Holton (D), auto-shop owner
--Scott Sterling, ( R ), investment advisor
District 1
Term expires
Glenn Abrams, (D) incumbent
District 3
Term expires
--Kevin Reid, ( R ), incumbent
292 Cherokee Cir.
--Charles Evans, (D), retired DNR Ranger
District 5
Term expires
Johnny Bannister, ( R ), incumbent
District 7
Term expires
Mike Keown, sr. ( R ) incumbent
BALLOT
QUESTIONS
In addition to the candidates on the General Election ballot for November 5, there will be a list of questions for voters: six amendments to the state Constitution and five approving proposed changes to state law. All but two are proposed tax cuts for one group or another, two would propose tax breaks for incentives to clean up blighted or contaminated property.
--Constitutional Amendment 1: This change in the state constitution requires candidates for public office to have paid their taxes, federal, state, local. The candidates cannot have been in arrears for more than a year. For those running for an office that levies taxes or votes on taxes, such as county commissioners or legislators, they cannot be in default on their taxes for any length of time.
--Constitutional Amendment 2: Low-income housing would be put in into a special class of property taxes to encourage builders to develop more of the housing. The amendment is needed so the Legislature can write the specifics of the law.
--Constitutional Amendment 3: This would force landowners to clean up what is called “blighted” property – but not houses - by subjecting them to a higher property tax. Once the property is cleaned up, the increased tax would be reduced so the property owners could recoup the cost of fixing up their land. The specifics would be decided by the Legislature.
--Constitutional Amendment 4: This encourages property owners to clean up hazardous waste on their land. It gives the state, not local authorities, the responsibility for setting the standard for taxing land that has been polluted by hazardous materials. The owners of the property could be taxed more if they do not make improvements. The Legislature would adopt specifics for the new amendment.
--Constitutional Amendment 5: In an
effort to help the commercial fishing industry in
--Constitutional Amendment 6: This proposes a license plate with a one-time fee of $25 of which $24 would go to a fund supporting spaying and neutering projects.
--There are five referendums. They allow changes to go into effect that have already been approved by the Legislature.
--Referendum A: Proposes a method of exempting some senior citizens from paying school taxes on their property. The current law has a threshold so low that most senior citizens who own property have to pay school taxes. The proposed change would allow seniors to subtract income from Social Security, retirement plans and disability benefits when calculating net income in order to determine if their income falls below $10,000 net income that would require them to pay school taxes. Incomes from dividends, salaries, commissions and other similar sources could not be deducted to get the net income below $10,000. Critics say local governments would have to recoup the lost school tax money from other property owners.
--Referendum B: This creates an ad valorem tax exemption for the spouses of those in the military who die in war or any other armed conflicts. The proposed exemption would be the same allowed to disabled veterans - $43,000 of assessed value or $107,500 of fair market value and would be available only as long as the surviving spouse does not remarry.
--Referendum C: This would benefit the Atlanta Academy of Medicine. It asks if Academy’s property should be exempt from taxes, and it is described as a “property owned by a nonprofit corporation which houses a medical museum or medical society.” Supporters say taxes on the Academy’s property have become too much to bear while critics say similar exemptions have not been offered to other nonprofits.
--Referendum D: This is a companion to Constitutional Amendment 5. It asks if commercial fishing boats should be exempt from property taxes.
--Referendum E: This asks if items used to earn a living, such as tools used by carpenters or mechanics, should be exempt from property taxes.