ELECTION 2022: The Race To Replace Lake Area State Senator Burt Jones

With Lake Area State Senator Burt Jones running for Lieutenant Governor, candidates are starting to line up to run next year to replace him.

On the Republican side, former state senator Rick Jeffares and Lake Area businessman Brett Mauldin have announced they are running.

Mauldin is the President of Marble Works in Eatonton and lives in Madison.

Rick Jeffares represented the 17^th State Senate District from 2011 to 2017. The district includes parts of Henry, Newton and Rockdale Counties. Spalding and Walton Counties were part of the district, when he was first elected in 2010.

Jeffares lives in Jackson now and is the President of the Georgia Rural Water Association.

On the Democratic side, Kacy Morgan has filed to run. He is a Morgan County resident and is the Pastor of Bethel Bara Baptist Church in Union Point. He is also retired Army.

We have also learned of other local figures considering a run for the office, including Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills.

He tells us he won’t make a decision until the lines of the 25^th State Senate district are redrawn by the Georgia General Assembly. That is expected to happen later this year.

The 25th State Senate district currently includes all or part of nine counties including all of Baldwin, Greene, Morgan and Putnam Counties.

David Clemons of the Walton Tribune contributed to this story.