Runoff Sees Significant Drop Compared to Primary

Tuesday’s election saw 6,235 county voters cast ballots.

Just over a third of the number of Paulding voters who took part in the July 31 primary election cast ballots in Tuesday’s runoff that determined the winners of three races that impacted the county. After last week’s five-day early and advance voting period and Tuesday’s election day, unofficial results showed that 6,235 of the county’s 74,867 registered voters had cast ballots—a turnout of 8.3 percent. The July 31 primary had stronger participation with 17,854 voters casting ballots, putting its turnout at 23.9 percent. Deidre Holden, supervisor of Paulding County Elections & Voter Registration, said no problems with voting were reported at any of the county’s 14 precincts. No voters remained in line at any of the precincts when the polls…

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Heath Wins ‘Battle of the Bills’

The incumbent senator from District 31 won Paulding but lost his home county of Haralson to challenger Bill Carruth of Dallas.

Voters in Paulding County and across District 31 said yes Tuesday to another term for their state senator. State Sen. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, won over Republican voters in Paulding and Polk counties on his way to victory in Tuesday’s runoff, but challenger Bill Carruth of Dallas took Heath’s home county of Haralson. According to unofficial statewide results from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, with all three counties’ results tabulated, Heath earned 6,330 votes—54.6 percent of ballots casts—to Carruth’s 5,259 votes. Carruth carried just under 40 percent of his home county, as Paulding voters favored Heath, who took 3,133 votes to Carruth’s 2,022. In Polk, Heath earned 2,079 votes to Carruth’s 1,452. In Haralson, 61.5 percent of …

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Early Voting for Runoff Ends at 5 p.m.

Today is Paulding County voters’ last opportunity for early and advance voting ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election. The polls open at 8 a.m.

Those hoping to get their votes in before Tuesday’s election day for the primary runoffs have until the end of this business day to cast their ballot. Today is the last day for early and advance voting, and those who don’t make it to the polls by the end of the day will have to find time on Tuesday if they wish to make their votes count in the races in a runoff. The polls at the Paulding County Elections & Voter Registration office in the Watson Government Complex in Dallas will close at 5 p.m. All Paulding County polling precincts will be open on Aug. 21 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters eligible to cast ballots in the runoff will have to visit their usual polling place to vote. Only those county voters who cast Republican or nonpartisan …

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Update: Carruth Not Expected at Event Tonight

The two candidates set for a runoff for the Senate District 31 seat are not expected to share the stage tonight at an event in Dallas scheduled by State Sen. Bill Heath. Challenger Bill Carruth, however, says he remains open to a public debate.

Bill Carruth emailed Dallas-Hiram Patch after our story was published to clarify his response to State Sen. Bill Heath. While Carruth wrote that he would “welcome the opportunity to debate the real issues facing the voters,” and was looking forward “to highlighting those differences in a public forum,” his response agreed to such a forum on the condition that Heath formally respond to an ethics complaint and sign a pledge toward ethics reform. Original story With just over two weeks to go before the runoff in their Senate District 31 race, State Sen. Bill Heath and challenge Bill Carruth are set take part in the first of what is to be a series of three debates tonight in Dallas. Heath emailed Carruth Thursday night to challenge his …

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Paper: Heath Hit with Ethics Complaint

The complaints stem from a campaign committee’s support of State Sen. Bill Heath, who faces two opponents in his bid for office.

Just days after Secretary of State Brian Kemp allowed one candidate to remain in the District 31 State Senate race, the incumbent in the election faces an ethics complaint that focuses on his bid to remain in office. The complaint, as published Sunday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jim Galloway in his Political Insider column, was filed by Cecelia H. McMichen of Dallas. It claims that State Sen. Bill Heath’s campaign coordinated with an independent committee known as the Georgia Republican Senate Caucus Promotion PAC to create “a carefully orchestrated campaign together.” Georgia Code 21-5-3 defines an "independent committee" as “any committee, club, association, partnership, corporation, labor union, or other group of persons, …

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Two Local Candidates To Remain on Ballots

Secretary of State Brian Kemp on Monday upheld the judicial decisions that kept two candidates in races that impact Paulding County.

Two Paulding Candidates To Remain on Ballots

Secretary of State Brian Kemp upheld the judicial decisions that kept two candidates in their respective races.

Two three-person races for legislative seats impacting Paulding will remain as is following decisions made Friday by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp. The first will keep Bill Carruth in the race for the District 31 State Senate seat. Carruth had been challenged last month by one of his opponents, incumbent Bill Heath, and Dallas resident Bill Houston. An administrative court earlier this month denied the challenge, and according to a news release Monday, Kemp’s decision Friday was to adopt the court’s decision. Carruth and fellow Dallas resident J.K. Rogers are vying to unseat Heath, who resides in Bremen. All three are running as Republicans. Also surviving a challenge was incumbent Paulette Rakestraw Braddock of State House …

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Judge: Carruth Eligible for Election

An Administrative Court judge determined that State Senate Candidate Bill Carruth does live in the 31st District.

An Administrative Court made an initial decision this week that Bill Carruth is eligible to run for State Senate Distrit 31. Carruth's candidacy had been challenged by current Senator Bill Heath, R-Bremen, and Dallas resident Bill Houston who alleged that Carruth has not resided in the district for a sufficient amount of time and owes the federal government, and thus the taxpayers, more than $2.3 million. In a statement, Carruth called the allegations frivolous. “I said from the beginning that this challenge has no basis in fact and will be thrown out," Carruth said. "Today, I am vindicated by Judge (Ronit) Walker’s decision. This was a frivolous complaint from the beginning that wasted time and taxpayer money so that Senator Heath might …

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