Another primary election came and went on Tuesday, and 30.24 percent of Baldwin County’s 26,949 registered voters ultimately went to the polls.
Early voting again proved popular. Out of the 8,149 ballots cast in Baldwin County, 4,024 were recorded on election day and 3,866 during early voting.
Floyd Griffin, one of roughly a half-dozen octogenarians currently serving in the General Assembly, cruised to victory in the District 149 state house primary, defeating challenger Ross Sheppard by a vote count of 4,874 to 1,220 (80 percent to 20 percent).
Sheppard didn’t do much better in Baldwin County, picking up 20.67 percent of the vote, despite campaigning hard around town.
Griffin now moves on to face Milledgeville businessman Randy Peters in the general election.
Peters, running uncontested in the Republican primary, tallied 3,166 votes. Nearly twice as many Democrats voted in the District 149 election as Republicans, which obviously bodes well for Griffin heading towards November. District 149 is a Democrat-leaning district carved out in 2024 following a Voting Rights Act settlement.
It includes everything in Baldwin County west of the Oconee River, a sliver of south Jones County, as well as a section of East Macon.
Meanwhile, a pair of political newcomers squared off in the District 3 county commission Republican primary, with Justin Jones downing Danny Register by a vote count of 442-143 (76.6 percent to 24.4 percent).
Peggy Longino Chester ran unopposed on the Democrat side, picking up 437 votes.
The four candidates in Districts 4 and 5 were all unopposed.
Incumbent Andrew Strickland totalled 1,216 votes on the Republican side in District 4 and Maurice Liggins 673 on the Democrat side.
Incumbent Scott Little had 1,194 votes in the GOP primary in District 5, while Danielle Ramsey had 854 in the Democratic primary. If it seems as if Little and Strickland haven’t been county commissioners for very long, it’s because they haven’t. Each was sworn into office in January 2025 after winning two-year terms during the November 2024 general election. Prior to that, the county commission voted to “stagger” its elections, as opposed to having all five districts appearing on the ballot in the same year. Little and Strickland are now seeking full fouryear terms.
Baldwin County Republicans showed up and showed out for Burt Jones in the gubernatorial primary. Jones, who represented Baldwin County in the State Senate between 20132022, picked up 52.92 percent of the vote in Baldwin County, while Rick Jackson tallied 28.58 percent. Statewide, Jones bested Jackson by roughly six percentage points, although it wasn’t enough to avoid a runoff.
In other words, go ahead and prepare yourself now for another month of Jackson and Jones campaign ads. The Jackson campaign already has spent more than $60 million on advertising, while the Jones side has spent more than $20 million.