Georgia House District 125 Race Decided

Columbia County Commissioner Gary Richardson won Tuesday's  runoff race to decide the winner of the newly vacant Georgia House District 125 seat.

Richardson beat opponent C.J. Pearson with 60% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

The two were vying to fill the seat left vacant by the recent resignation of Barry Fleming.  Fleming is now a Superior Court Judge in Columbia County.

Pearson and Richardson will face off again in the May Republican primary, seeking a full two-year term.  Richardson can't run for a County Commission seat again due to term limits.

Grovetown City Council:  Ceretta Smith won the seated vacated by former Council Member Deborah Fisher.  Smith had 466 votes.  Her opponent, Jacqueline Rivera-Player received 441 votes.

Blythe City Council:  Phillip Stewart won the race with 88 votes.  Opponent Mike Rineer received 77 votes.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are the presumptive winners of their parties' presidential nominations.  Neither Biden nor Trump faced major opposition.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced Tuesday he is backing former President Donald Trump in this year's election.

Simply put, Kemp said, "I think he'd be better than Joe Biden.  It's as simple as that."

Despite a bit of a contentious relationship between the two, Kemp said he has always maintained he would support the Republican nominee.  He wouldn't, however, comment on whether he plans to campaign with Trump.  In fact, Kemp has skipped every one of Trump's rallies in the state since 2021.

Kemp said the focus now has to be on putting a Republican back in the White House.

"People can send a message with their vote today, but the real action is going to be happening here in November.  I know we're preparing for that, and it's going to be a crazy, crazy, election season," said Kemp.