Georgia Democrats hemorrhaging rural pols in ballot qualifying

Fomenting a political trend long in the works, rural Georgia Democrats are defecting wholesale their one-time Dixie powerhouse in this week’s ballot qualifications.

Bleckley County’s partisan pols have near-unanimously filed for reelection Wednesday as Republicans. All countywide Democratic elected officials officials save for surveyor have broken rank with the party. Their names and offices, per an eagle-eyed tipster:

Bleckley County Probate Judge Kenneth Powell
Bleckley County Clerk of Court Dianne Brown
Bleckley County Sheriff Harold Lancaster
Bleckley County Tax Commissioner J. David Brown
Bleckley County Coroner Danny Mathis
Bleckley County Chief Magistrate Helen Hart
Bleckley County Commissioner Robert Brockman
Houston County Clerk of Court Carolyn Sullivan

As Tipsheet first reported Wednesday, a trio of district attorneys had also swapped political affiliations for the coming November contest.

- James Richardson