Qualifying is completed, and boy do Paulding County voters have a lot of candidates to choose from this year.

From the County Commission all the way upward to the State House, local voters across multiple districts will be casting their ballot in May to determine who will go onward to the general election in November.

Here’s how qualifying rounded out for the races across Paulding County:

County races

The District Attorney’s race is one of the few in Paulding County completely uncontested this election cycle, and the only one to qualify was Matthew Rollins, who is the Acting District Attorney for the county. He sought to retain his office at the beginning of qualifying.

The Commission Post 2 race features a pair of Republicans for a primary challenge against the incumbent later in May, and a lone Democrat to challenge the race this coming November.

Commissioner Sandy Kaecher of Dallas faces a challenge in David Dial of Dallas. The winner will face Ida L Gardner of Dallas, who was the lone Democratic candidate to qualify in the race.

In the Commission Post 3, Virginia Galloway of Hiram, Glen Albright of Hiram, Dennis Laws of Hiram and Frankie Willingham Jr. of Douglasville are all competing for the Republican nomination for the seat.

The Democrats have also fielded a pair of candidates, Taurus Morris of a Powder Springs address and Cynthia Starke-Jones, whose address wasn’t listed on the Secretary of State’s website.

The winners of the May 24 primary in both parties will go onward to face each other in the General Election for 2022 in November.

Post 4 has only a single Republican and Democrat in the race, so they will face each other in November on the ballot as well.

Republican Commissioner Brian Stover of Dallas is facing Democratic challenger Sheila Alexander. Stover qualified to retain his seat early in the week, and Alexander jumped into the race on Thursday.

School board races are much less complicated than those for the commission.

In District 2, Republican Board Member Nick Chester Sr. will retain his seat without competition in the 2022 race. He’s an attorney from a Powder Springs address.

In the District 5 race, Board Member John B Dean of Dallas will only face a primary challenge this election cycle. He’s facing John Grant in this year’s race. The winner will go on to the November ballot without a challenger, meaning Dean or Grant will begin serving in 2023.

The District 6 race will head straight to the general election, and Republican Board Member Daniel (Dan) Nolan III of an Acworth address (North Paulding) will face Selena Jackson Guines of Dallas, who qualified as a Democratic challenger.

May 24 will setup the full general ballot, though expect the likelihood of a run-off election in the Post 3 Commission race with several individuals on the ballot.

State offices

Moving from west to east, the changed district lines in for 2022 mean challengers are featured in every State House race this year.

In the 16th District – which covers Polk and north and west Paulding County – State Rep. Trey Kelley will seek to retain his seat in May in a primary race against Dallas contractor Scott Richards.

No Democrats jumped into the 16th District race in the State House, so either Kelley or Richards will win over the State House seat in the primary and go unchallenged on the November ballot.

Kelley qualified this past Tuesday to retain his seat, and Richard followed up on Wednesday.

The 17th District lines also shifted, and GOP incumbent State Rep. Martin Momtahan will face a primary and general election challenge no matter what happens in May. Momtahan, a Dallas business owner, is set to face Neil Wolin of Dallas in the race. Wolin qualified on Monday, and Momtahan qualified to retain his seat on Tuesday, March 8.

Even if Momtahan is able to come out of the primary, he’ll face lone Democrat Sunshine Marshall on the general election ballot in November. She was the only candidate to qualify. She listed her occupation as retired when she qualified today to get into the race.

Within the new 17th District lines, they stretch from the far northern corner of the county downward to the western portion of the county, ending at the southeastern Polk County line and the northeast corner of Haralson County.

The 18th District – now covering all of Haralson County, north and west Carroll County and southwest Paulding County – has two candidates in the race. Republican incumbent State Rep. Tyler Paul Smith of Bremen – an attorney and farmer – will face Pat Rhudy of Carrollton, a US Census Bureau Field Representative in the general election. Neither faces a challenger in the primary and will move onward to the November ballot. Rhudy jumped into the race today after Smith looked to have the race wound up after he qualified on Monday, March 7.

The District 19 race includes State Rep. Joseph Gullett as the lone Republican in the race, and thus he’ll not face a primary race in May. However, he’s got a challenger for the 2022 General Election, since R.J. Coyle, a Democrat, qualified to get onto the ballot on Wednesday, March 9.

Gullett’s district is now made up of much of the east side of the county, downward toward the Sudie area.

Finally, the State House’s re-arranged 64th District is loaded with candidates in both parties for primary challenges seeking to get to the November ballot.

May will see a trio of Republicans face off, including Shane Miller of Hiram, and Kimberly R New and Preston Parra in the GOP primary. Democrats will also have a trio of candidates in the race, with Montenia Edwards of a Powder Springs address, Christopher R. Thornton and Mignon Willis all seeking the seat as well.

The Secretary of State’s office listed Miller is a contractor, New as a business owner and Parra as a member of the Georgia Army National Guard. In the Democratic race, Edwards works as a Clinical Project Manager, Thornton is a Senior Desktop Engineer and Willis is a Senior Living Advisor.

Voters in the 64th District will decide which of the three candidates in each primary will go to the November ballot. The district now includes a portion of the county’s southeast corner around Douglasville and the Douglas county line, and extends downward to cover west Douglas County.

The only two state races that aren’t contested this year are for the two Senate districts covering the county.

State Senator Jason Anavitarte, who represents most of the county and all of Polk County in redrawn borders, will retain his seat without competition this year. The District 30 race is also uncontested, State Senator Mike Dugan will also retain his seat. The redrawn district lines cover all of Haralson, Carroll, southern portions of Paulding and northwest Douglas counties.

Check back for more on the primaries and general election ahead of the May 24 and November votes.