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Longtime Crisp County Commission member Wallace Mathis will not seek re-election to his seat on the county body, with a pair of Republicans having qualified this week to run for the spot.

Mark Crenshaw and Bill Wilson will run for the District 2/Post 1 seat currently held by Mathis. That race will be decided in the May 19 Primary Election.

Newly-appointed Crisp County Board of Education member Dr. Elizabeth Maddox, a retired educator, qualified to run for re-election as a Democrat, but she will face opposition in the November 3 General Election in the form of Republican newcomer Ben Drennan.

Crisp County’s magistrate and probate judges also face opposition. Probate Judge Amber Holloway faces fellow Republican Allen Ellenberg while Chief Magistrate Stephen Ingram, also a Republican, faces Democrat Isaac Owens.

Incumbents for all the other local offices up for grabs this election year will go on the ballot unopposed. This includes Sheriff Billy Hancock, Coroner J.D. Rainey, Superior Court Clerk Tara Hayslip, Tax Commissioner Deborah Lofton, County Commissioner (D1/P2) James Nance, and Board of Education member (West Crisp seat) Lelee Phinney.

At the state level, newly-elected State Senator Carden Summers of Cordele will face primary opposition on the Republican ballot from Tifton businessman Spud Bowen. The winner of that race will face the winner between Democrats Mary Egler of Leesburg and Ruenett Melton of Tifton.

State Representative Noel Williams will face opposition in the November election from Democrat Regina Awung. Her listing on the state secretary of state’s elections division’s website did not include an address, but lists her occupation as a physician’s assistant.

Check Wednesday’s print edition of the Dispatch for qualified candidates for local offices in Dooly and Wilcox counties.