Newton Citizen

COVINGTON -- Early voting for the primary wrapped up Friday at the Newton County Board of Elections office, with more than 2,000 ballots having been cast.

A total of 1,858 votes had been cast in-person at the office as of Friday morning; 1,005 of those were Republican ballots and 853 were Democrat.

In addition, 198 ballots had been cast by mail. Of those, 105 were Republican and 93 were Democrat.

The primary takes place Tuesday, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Results will be posted in the conference room across the hall from the Board of Elections office, located at the Newton County Administration Building at 1113 Usher St.

Local elections on the ballot include Board of Commissioners District 2, with incumbent Earnest Simmons facing Lanier Sims on the Democratic ticket. The winner will face Republican Rickie Corley in November. The District 4 race pits incumbent J.C. Henderson against Kenneth Hardeman. With no Republican opposition, the primary will decide the election.

Republicans Ron Hart, Jeff Meadors and Dale M. Thompson will square off in the District 1 Board of Education race. There are no Democrats running.

The District 3 Board of Education race is hotly contested on the Democrat side, featuring Christine Brown; Toney D. Collins; Pamela Byrd Consuegra; Shakila Henderson-Baker; James Johnson Jr. The winner will face Kevin Wade in November.

Neither District 5 Republican candidate Abigail Morgan Coggin nor Democrat Sharon Sawyer faces opposition in the primary.

Other races on the ballot include governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, U.S. Senate, congressional districts 7 and 8, state senate district 17, and state house districts 95 and 110.