It’s early yet, but Democratic candidates are already announcing their plans to seek seats on Gwinnett County’s Board of Commissioners in 2020.
In recent weeks, a total of three candidates — Kirkland Carden, Jasper Watkins and Derrick Wilson — made public their intentions to campaign for district commission seats that will be up for election next year.
The trio — any of which would become Gwinnett's first black male commissioner if elected — are joined in their candidacy by former Democratic state Sen. Curt Thompson, who announced his plans to run for commission chairman last month.
Find below a very early look at the district races. (And find a map of the county's commission districts here.)
District 1 (Duluth, Suwanee, Sugar Hill): Kirkland Carden, 30, is only a year-plus into his first term as a Duluth city councilman. But the transportation planner and Duluth High graduate said he wants to represent District 1 in order to help the county better address issues like transit, affordable housing and public safety.
“I’m running to provide services for the roughly quarter of a million people who live in District 1, to provide leadership and try to tackle some of the issues we really struggle with,” Carden said. “Our Board of Commissioners has really not given certain social issues the attention and care they need.”
Current District 1 Commissioner Jace Brooks, a Republican, said he hasn’t yet made a decision about 2020 and is in no hurry to decide. He said he could run for re-election or step away from public life altogether — or even run for commission chairman.
Current Chairwoman Charlotte Nash has not made a public decision about seeking reelection.
District 3 (Snellville, Grayson, Dacula, Braselton): The District 3 seat — currently held by Commissioner Tommy Hunter, infamous for his 2017 Facebook posts calling U.S. Rep. John Lewis a "racist pig" — has already drawn two likely Democratic contenders for 2020.
Jasper Watkins, the nuclear pharmacist and Army veteran who narrowly lost to Hunter in 2016, says he's in for another run. Watkins said he would focus on addressing transportation issues and attracting jobs to the district, as well as working to control the spread of high-density mixed-use developments.
“I still do feel like I have a lot to give Gwinnett County,” Watkins said. “And I have a lot to give District 3.”
Derrick Wilson, an independent insurance adjuster who moved to Gwinnett in 2016, is also hoping to serve District 3. He called transportation and early childhood education major issues — and said that he wants to serve as “the bridge between county and community.”
“If you’re not approachable by everyone, then you’re not serving everyone,” Wilson said, referencing the still-lingering fallout from the Hunter situation.
Asked if he planned to seek re-election in 2020, Hunter told the AJC he was “focused on working for the people of District 3, not a political campaign two years away.”
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