Well-paid DeKalb tax job makes for contentious race

Three candidates with powerful backgrounds are running for DeKalb tax commissioner, the highest-paid government job in the county with total annual compensation of $242,000.

One of the candidates is former Commissioner Stan Watson, who owes roughly $150,000 after losing a lawsuit and was reprimanded for an ethics violation.

Another candidate is current Tax Commissioner Irvin Johnson, who sued this week to try to delay the special election, arguing that the ballot should identify him as the incumbent. Johnson's name currently appears without the word "incumbent" beneath it.