Fayette

County Commission Chairman Harold Bost will be

running for reelection after all.

Bost

said Tuesday that he had planned to withdraw from

his race for reelection and support his neighbor,

Jim Hardy. But he learned this week that Hardy's

home is not in the district, and Hardy has

withdrawn.

Saying

he had planned from the beginning to serve only

one term, Bost qualified for reelection to his

District 3 post last week as a precaution, he

said, in case "special interests"

should put up a candidate.

Although

he does not accuse the third candidate in the

race, Christopher J. Ramig, of being tied to

special interests, Bost said he decided to stay

in the race after Hardy's departure so that

voters will have two candidates to choose from.

"I

just want to give the people a choice," he

said.

The

news that Bost will stay in the race is one of

several surprises as 48 candidates signed up for

local elective offices during qualifying week,

which ended Friday.

Nonpartisan

races and those with candidates from only one

party will be decided July 18 in the General

Primary. Those with both Democrat and Republican

candidates - four races - will be

decided Nov. 7 in the General Election.

Fourteen

incumbents will return to office without

opposition, and one vacated seat will be filled

without an election - Janet Smola is

the only candidate who signed up to run for Board

of Education Post 1, which is being voluntarily

vacated by board Chairman Debbie Condon.

Eleven

of the 26 local races are contested.

The

most crowded political race in 2000 will be for

the Board of Education Post 2 seat, being

voluntarily vacated by its current occupant,

Woody Shelnutt.

Five

candidates, all Republicans, signed up to run for

the post: Kimberly B. Gatlin, Donald J. Apking,

Kevin Demmitt, Geneva "Jenny" McCurry

and Teresa Renee "Terri" Smith, all

Republicans.

The

race for state Senate District 28 also has drawn

a lot of interest. Sen. Rick Price will face

three opponents, all members of his own

Republican Party.

Party

vice chairman Charlie Harper, who made news

recently by publicly criticizing Price's voting

record, has signed up, along with former 105th

District state Rep. Dan Lakly and Coweta County

resident Mitch Seabaugh.

Another

surprise this year is that W.A. "Bud"

Ballard, clerk of Fayette Superior Court, will

face opposition. Ballard, a Democrat, has held

the post for decades. Republican Sheila Roxanne

Studdard, a police detective, has qualified to

take on Ballard in November.

Sitting

judges also rarely face opposition, but Judge

Johnnie Caldwell of the Griffin Judicial Circuit

will have some. Fayette lawyer John Mrosek will

go after the nonpartisan judgeship in July.

Two

magistrate judges also will have opponents. Leo

Earl Kelly has signed up to face Judge Joseph A.

Tinsley Sr. for Post 1, and Robert A. Ruppenthal

will take on incumbent Grady L. Huddleston for

Post 3.

Three

Republicans will square off for Board of

Education Post 3 - Michael A. Jerrell Sr.,

former board member Marion Key and incumbent

Connie Hale. The winner of that fray will face

Democrat William J. Bryan III in November.

Three

Republicans and one Democrat also are vying for

County Commission Post 1, with current

Commissioner Glen Gosa having bowed out. A. G.

VanLandingham, Carl Frederick Davis III and Frank

P. Oakley will seek the GOP nomination, and the

winner will take on Elizabeth Jane Barnes,

Democrat, in November.

U.S.

Rep. Mac Collins, whose 3rd District includes

Fayette, also has drawn opposition in his

reelection bid. Peachtree City resident J. P.

Agrawal, a Democrat, has qualified for the post,

along with Republican Herb Galloway. Collins and

Galloway will square off for the Republican

nomination July 18, and the winner will face

Agrawal Nov. 7.

In

state Senate District 34, incumbent Greg K.

Hecht, Democrat, will face Bryan Hilton,

Republican, in November. Hilton is a Lithia

Springs resident. The district covers parts of

Clayton, Fayette, Fulton and Douglas counties.

Incumbents

who will be returned to office without challenge

include Sheriff Randall Johnson, Commissioner

Herb Frady in Post 2, Superior Court judges

Paschal English Jr. and Ben Miller, district

attorney Bill McBroom, State Court Judge Fletcher

Sams, State Court solicitor Steven L. Harris,

Probate Judge Martha Stephenson, coroner C. J.

Mowell Jr., tax Commissioner George Wingo, post 2

Magistrate Judge Kenneth Melear, Post 4

Magistrate Judge James A. White, 104th District

state Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, and 105th District

state Rep. Kathy Cox.

<!--

-----------