Three county commission seats, all currently held by Republicans, are up for grabs this election cycle.
Baldwin County’s voting map has been gerrymandered since the 1980s, all to ensure that two-out-of-the-five county commission districts are majority Black. At last count, the Census Bureau placed Baldwin County’s African-American population at 41.7 percent. Neither of Baldwin County’s two majority- Black districts (District 1 and District 2) are on the ballot this year, and elections in those two districts aren’t until 2028.
In District 3, Republican Justin Jones and Democrat Peggy Chester are both political newcomers. Each is looking to replace Sammy Hall, who chose not to seek re-election earlier this year. Hall has represented District 3 off-and-on for more than 50 years. He first served from 1974-1992. He then made his political comeback in 2008 and has represented District 3 ever since.
Back in the May primary, Jones defeated his opponent, Danny Register, by a vote count of 442-143, which adds up to 585 votes. Chester, meanwhile, ran unopposed and received 437 votes. In other words, 57.2 of the votes recorded in the District 3 county commission primary were Republican votes.
Jones is a familiar face around downtown, and he’s made his career in the jewelry business at JC Grant Company. He is a 1998 graduate of Baldwin High. Chester, meanwhile, is retired from Georgia Power and is a 1970 graduate of Boddie High.
Based on the results from the May primary, the Republican advantage is strongest in District 4, where Republican Andrew Strickland is seeking re-election. Strickland first won a two-year term in District 4 in 2024, after the county commission opted to “stagger” its county commission terms, as opposed to having all five districts on the ballot in the same year. Strickland is now seeking a four-year term.
Strickland received 1,216 votes in the primary, while the Democrat, Maurice Liggins, picked up 673.
In other words, 64.4 of the primary ballots were Republican.
Strickland is an air evac paramedic, while Liggins retired with the rank of sergeant first class in the United States Army.
Like Strickland, Scott Little is seeking a full four-year term after first being elected to a two-year term in District 5 in 2024. Little received 1,194 votes in the primary on the Republican side, while Danielle Ramsey tallied 854.
The percentage breakdown was 58.3 percent Republican and 41.7 percent Democrat.
Little is a touring musician turned small businessman, while Ramsey works as a counselor and therapist at Baldwin State Prison. She first moved to Baldwin County in 2016, and her two daughters later graduated from Baldwin High.
Much has changed since the May primary, however. The county government’s financial problems began bubbling up to the surface and sort of spilled over at a county commission meeting in late August, when Paul Van Haute, who was the interim county manager at the time, painted an extremely bleak picture of the county’s finances.
During his presentation, Van Haute said that the situation was so bad that commissioners should consider borrowing money from a lender and putting up the courthouse as collateral. Van Haute also suggested raising the millage rate from 9.76 mills to 19.06 mills. Commissioners ultimately opted for a smaller 3.5 mill increase.
However, even the smaller increase was not well-received by the public, to say the least.
Incumbents typically have the advantage in elections, but that may not be the case for the incumbents in Districts 4 and 5. Whether property tax-related resentment from the public is enough to make up for the built-in advantages for Republicans in those two districts will be interesting to watch.
All six candidates’ online campaigning is based on Facebook.
These are the Facebook pages for each of the six candidates:
• Justin Jones for Baldwin County Commissioner District 3
• Peggy Longino Chester for Baldwin County, GA
• Andrew Strickland for Baldwin
• Maurice C. Liggins for Baldwin County District 4 Commissioner
• Scott Little for Baldwin County Commissioner District 5
• Danielle Ramsey for Baldwin County, GA