Early voting opened this week for the special election to fill the State House District 119 seat. Seven people have qualified for the State House District 119 seat vacated by Rep-Elect Danny Rampey. A special election is set Jan. 31 for the race.
Qualified candidates include:
•Charlie Chase, Republican, Winder. Chase is a general contractor.
•Shelbey Diamond Alexander, Democrat, Winder. Alexander is retired.
•Joseph Grodzicki, Republican, of Winder. Grodzicki works as a safety coordinator for a gas distributor.
•Renee Lord, Republican, no city listed. Lord is a business owner.
•Holt Persinger, Republican, no city listed. Persinger is a landscape architect.
•Joe Price, Republican, no city listed. Price works in beauty and barber shop equipment sales.
•Bill Ritter, Republican, Statham. Ritter is an insurance agent.
ELECTION DAY
Rampey was election to the House District 119 seat last year, but resigned from the post following his recent arrest on burglary charges in Barrow County.
House District 119 covers portions of Jackson County (in the Braselton-Hoschton area) and Barrow County.
Jackson County residents in District 119 will cast their vote on Election Day, Jan. 31, at the Braselton Police and Municipal Court building. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on that date. The county board of elections approved relocating the site from Free Chapel to the Braselton police and municipal court building for this special election. The elections office plans to send out letters to voters to notify them of the change.
If necessary, a runoff will be held Feb. 28.
EARLY VOTING
Early voting hours in Jackson County are:
•Jan. 9-14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•Jan. 17-21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•Jan. 23-27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Jackson County residents voting in the House District 119 race may vote early at the Ponchie Beck Election Center, located at 441 Gordon St., Jefferson.
Satellite polling locations will not be available in Jackson County for the special election.
In Barrow County, residents may vote early at the Barrow County Election Office located at 233 E. Broad Street in Winder at the following times:
•Jan. 9-14, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•Jan. 17-21, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•Jan. 23-27, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(The office will be closed Monday, Jan. 16 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
RAMPEY ARREST
Rampey was arrested Dec. 15 and charged with burglarizing a residence at Magnolia Estates of Winder Assisted Living Center where he is a manager.
According to Barrow County Sheriff's Office, Rampey, 67, of Statham, broke into the residence and took a quantity of a controlled substance from the unit.
Rampey was charged with unauthorized distribution or possession of a controlled substance, burglary and exploitation and intimidation of disable adults, elderly persons and residents.
BCSO was made aware of suspicious activity involving missing medications in December and initiated an investigation into the allegations. Surveillance operations were used to assist in the collection of evidence of stolen medications.
The residence was not occupied by the resident at the time of Rampey's arrest and no one was injured during the burglary.
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