In the first day of qualifying for the May 19 party primaries and nonpartisan general election, two non-incumbent Republican candidates — Frank Bedell III and Dr. Theodore "Ted" Redman — signed up to run for the same Bulloch County Board of Commissioners seat, Seat 2-B. Another non-incumbent Republican, Paul Roesel, signed up as a candidate for a different commission post, Seat 2-D.
The incumbents for those two seats, 2-B Commissioner Toby Conner and 2-D Commissioner Timmy Rushing, had yet to sign up to seek re-election. The one incumbent Bulloch County commissioner who signed up and paid the fee the first day was also the only in-county Democrat qualifying Monday, Seat 1-B Commissioner Anthony Simmons.
But the opportunity for candidates to qualify continues 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, through Thursday, March 5, and then 9 a.m.–noon Friday, March 6, with noon Friday being the statewide deadline.
Where Bulloch citizens go to complete their paperwork and pay their qualifying fees as candidates depends on whether they are running as Democrats, Republicans or for a nonpartisan office.
The local nonpartisan posts up for election are the Bulloch County State Court judgeship and four seats of the Board of Education. Candidates for these qualify with the Board of Elections and Registration office at the County Annex, 113 North Main St., Suite 201, where Election Supervisor Shontay Jones is in charge.
The three county commissioner seats mentioned here are Bulloch's only in-county partisan offices up for election this year.
Democrats seeking any of those seats would sign up with the Bulloch County Democratic Committee, whose chair is Krishna Medidi, across the hall from the Election Board office in the County Annex.
This year Republican candidates are qualifying at a Bulloch County Republican Party location in a different building not far from the annex, the district office of state Rep. Lehman Franklin, upstairs in the Franklin Court building at 127 North Main St.
Bedell qualifies
That's where Frank Bedell qualified for commissioner Seat 2-B around midday Monday, after having announced his intended candidacy in early January.
Bedell was born in Savannah and moved to Bulloch County in 2019. He has operated a small business, B&B Trailers, in the Savannah area since 1995.
"I absolutely love the community I live in, and I am excited to serve the citizens of Bulloch County," Bedell said in his January release. "I am running for commissioner because I believe that we need a commissioner who cares about the increased cost of living, who will protect our shared values, and will help to create a solid plan for growth and infrastructure. I have spent my career running a small business, which means I have had to make tough calls, balance budgets, and work with people to solve problems."
Redman makes it a race
But the first candidate to sign up Monday for Seat 2-B was actually Ted Redman, who in a brief, written biography described himself as "a semi-retired ER doctor, married with seven kids, most … out of house now."
He is also a retired, career Army veteran. Having started as a medic and gone to medical school while in the Army, Redman retired from the service after 25 years at the rank of lieutenant colonel. His career, he stated, included 13 combat deployments as an Army Ranger and member of Task Force 160.
He and his family moved to Bulloch County, where he and his wife are homeowners, in June 2020.
Redman currently has two part-time jobs, one at F3EA Inc. in Savannah and the other at Ogeechee Technical College as Emergency Medical Services medical director. He also serves as a volunteer firefighter with the Bulloch County Fire Department.
Roesel seeks Seat 2-D
In the afternoon, Paul Roesel signed up as the only candidate as of Monday for Seat 2-D on the Board of Commissioners. A lifelong Bulloch resident, he retired last year as president of The Sack Company, a commercial and industrial contractor firm that was a family-owned business launched as H.A. Sack Company by his uncle of that name in 1945. Roesel had worked there for more than 45 years, since 1979.
The company is now under different ownership, and Roesel said that in retirement he is seeking a new way to contribute to the community. This is his first time seeking elected office. But Roesel has been appointed member of the Development Authority of Bulloch County board for more than 20 years, previously served on the Ogeechee Technical College board, and has volunteered in other community organizations.
In an announcement release, he said the role of county commissioner presents "stewardship responsibilities that demand sound judgment, fiscal discipline, and long-term thinking."
"Growth creates opportunity — but without careful planning, it can strain our roads, infrastructure, public safety resources, and property owners," Roesel said. "We must be proactive, not reactive. …"
The incumbents for the two District 2 seats up for election, or any other candidates, have until noon Friday to qualify. The qualifying fee for a county commission seat is $225.
Draeger seeks BOE seat
Unlike county commission seats, Board of Education seats are nonpartisan, so BOE candidates qualify directly at the county elections office. Unlike the commissioners who are elected at-large in District 2 or District 1, each BOE member represents one of eight smaller districts.
The one non-incumbent candidate qualifying for a Board of Education seat Monday was Sharon Draeger, seeking the seat from District 6, currently held by Jimmy "Jay" Cook Jr.
Having retired after a 31 years as an educator, from paraprofessional to principal, primarily in Chatham County, Draeger now works part-time as program manager for the nonprofit Behavioral Pediatric Resource Center, based in Statesboro.
Incumbent Board of Education members Elizabeth Williams of District 2 and Donna Clifton of District 4 qualified Monday as candidates to seek re-election. The District 5 seat held by Glennera Martin is also up for election but had no qualifiers the first day.
The qualifying fee for BOE seats is $72.
Judge Cushner qualified
Also officially nonpartisan, State Court Judge Joseph Cushner filed his paperwork to seek re-election and then sent a press release to local news organizations.
"Since 2020, I have had the privilege of serving as your State Court Judge, working every day to ensure our legal system is fair, efficient, and transparent," Cushner said in the release. "My commitment to the rule of law and to the people of this community remains my top priority, and I am running for re-election to continue the progress we have made together over the last six years."
Previously county solicitor-general, or prosecutor of the misdemeanor criminal cases that are tried in the State Court, he was appointed to the judge's role by Gov. Brian Kemp effective March 2020 following the 2019 retirement of Judge Gary Mikell. Cushner then won election to a four-year term over another local attorney who sought the office in 2022.
Any challenger this year would have until noon Friday to complete the paperwork and pay the same qualifying fee that Cushner did, $5,081.38. Based on 3% of the salary for this full-time office requiring a Georgia lawyer who is a Bulloch County resident, the candidate fee is much higher than for the part-time board posts.
Meanwhile, candidates for state executive posts, all seats in the Georgia General Assembly, Georgia's seats in the U.S. House and one of its seats in the U.S. Senate are qualifying in Atlanta.
Franklin seeks new term
State Rep. Lehman Franklin (R-Statesboro, House District 160) formally qualified for re-election Monday with the Georgia Republican Party in Atlanta, while his district office in Statesboro was being used as the Bulloch GOP qualifying site.
"Public service requires careful stewardship, because the decisions we make in Atlanta set a framework for how our families live and how we earn a living. ….," Franklin said in a release. "There is more work to do, and I remain committed to thoughtful, conservative leadership that keeps our communities strong, competitive, and prepared for the future."