Time is quickly approaching for the July 31 primary and Upson County voters will have 12 different seats to cast their vote for in the election. Early voting begins July 9 and ends on July 27, with a special Saturday voting being held on June 21 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Registrar’s Office. For those not yet registered to vote in Upson County, in order to vote in the primary, they must do so by no later than July 2.

Winners of the non-partisan offices will be decided on the July 31 vote and include the seats of Probate Judge; Chief Magistrate Judge and four Board of Education posts.

For Probate Judge, the race is between Danielle McRae (Incumbent), John Marc Ellington, T. Larry Dawson and Harry (Joey) Thiel.

Danny C. Bentley (Incumbent) and Terry L. Salter are both running for Chief Magistrate Judge.

There are four seats up for grabs on the Board of Education in Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7. The following have qualified: District 1 Angeline McGill (Incumbent); District 3 Miriam Oxford Elsey (Incumbent); District 5 Leon Fowler (Incumbent) and William H. Roberts; and District 7 Terrell Jackson (Incumbent) and Bryan Trickel.

For the partisan races, the primary serves as a way to narrow down the candidates to two for each office, with the final vote being cast during the general election in November.

The seat with the most people throwing their hat into the ring goes to the election of Upson County’s new Sheriff. The six men who qualified for the position are as follows: Sam Baity, Nason L. Blackwell, Glenn Collins, Jeffrey Little, Davy Storey, and Dan Kilgore. Baity, Collins, Storey and Kilgore will face off in the Republican primary, while Blackwell and Little will compete for the Democratic nomination.

Also up for election is the position of Coroner, which is between James M. George (Incumbent) and Craig Stubbs. Both George and Stubbs qualified as Republicans, so that race will be decided in the primary, with the winner unopposed in the general election.

Qualifying for Clerk of Superior Court was Teresa Harper (Incumbent) and Russ Bridges. Harper qualified as a Republican and Bridges qualified as a Democrat, so that race will not be decided on until the general election in November.

J. Berry Cook (R) (Incumbent) was the only person to qualify for Tax Commissioner as was Sidney L. Beach (Incumbent) for the position of District Supervisor of Towaliga Soil and Conservation, therefore they will not be voted on until the November election.

There are three Upson County Board of Commissioner seats up for election this year, Districts 1, 2 and Commission Chair, along with a special election to fill the remaining term for the District 3 post.

Qualifying for the District 1 seat formerly held by Sandra Trice is George Carriker (D) and Lorenzo Wilder (D). That race will be decided in the primary, as there are no Republican candidates.

For District 2 the race is between Steve K. Hudson (R) (Incumbent) and Heather M. Rush (R). That race will also be decided in the primary, as there are no Democratic candidates.

The final office on the ballot will be for the office of Chairman of the Board of Commissioners which will be between Maurice Raines (D) (Incumbent), Anthony South (R) and Rusty Blackston (R). Raines runs unopposed during the primary, but South and Blackston will face off in the primary, with the winner taking on Raines in the general election.

A special election will have to be held for Rusty Blackston’s former seat in District 3 because no one qualified, however the date for that election has not been set as of yet.