Echols easily wins Republican PSC primary, Democrat Waites could face runoff

Republican Tim Echols Tuesday cruised to his party s nomination for another term on the Georgia Constituents Organization Commission PSC which regulates utilities in the Peach State With of Georgia s counties reporting as of p m Echols had amassed of the vote in the PSC s District to just for challenger Lee Muns of Columbia County according to unofficial results Echols who lives near Hoschton near Athens will take on Democrat Alicia Johnson in November Meanwhile former Atlanta City Councilwoman Keisha Sean Waites was leading two opponents in the race for the Democratic nomination in PSC District With of the vote as of p m Waites was just short of the -plus-one-vote margin needed to avoid a runoff next month Clean capacity advocate Peter Hubbard was running second with of the vote with former utilities executive Robert Jones trailing in third with The winner of Tuesday s Democratic primary will face incumbent Republican Commissioner Fitz Johnson in November Echols was elected to the PSC in and reelected in His term was supposed to expire in but was extended when the electoral contest was postponed by a lawsuit challenging the way members of the commission are elected The plaintiffs argued that electing commissioners statewide instead of by district dilutes violates the federal Voting Rights Act by making it more intricate for Black voters to elect a candidate of their choice While the event was pending the and PSC elections were postponed As a aftermath Echols got three more years on his six-year term while Fitz Johnson appointed to the commission in didn t have to face Georgia voters until this year A federal appeals court eventually ruled against the plaintiffs in the lawsuit leaving the system of statewide elections of members of the PSC intact If Waites fails to win a majority of the Democratic vote when all of the ballots have been counted she and Hubbard would square off July in a runoff to decide the nomination The commission s District covers Fulton Clayton and DeKalb counties District stretches from Atlanta s eastern and southeastern suburbs to Savannah The post Echols easily wins Republican PSC primary Democrat Waites could face runoff appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta