This year, all of Chatham's state house positions are up for re-election.
A few candidates won't face challenges this year, but with the departure of State Sen. Lester Jackson, who is running for labor commissioner this year, four candidates are looking to win his seat.
Senate District 1:
Ben Watson: Republican Sen. Watson will be looking to defend the seat he has held since 2015. Watson is a primary care physician that deals mostly with elderly patients. Watson ran unopposed in 2020 after his challenger dropped out of the race.
Jay Jones: Democrat Jay Jones is the chairman of the Chatham Democratic Committee. He served as the District 6 Chatham County Commissioner from 2017 to 2021. Jones' most recent run was for Chatham Commission chairman in 2020, but lost to Chester Ellis.
Andrew Niquette: A political newcomer, Niquette is running as a Democrat. Niquette's platform includes updating technology in public schools, protecting the environment, expanding Medicaid and criminal justice reform.
Senate District 2:
Credit: Courtesy of Ken Yasger
Credit: Courtesy of Ken Yasger
Ken Yasger: The only Republican in the strongly left-leaning Senate District 2 race, Yasger's political experience includes a run for the 1st Congressional District in 2020, where he received 1% of the vote.
Clinton Young: Republican Clinton Young will be seeking office again this year after losing the special election for House 165 to Edna Jackson in November 2021. In that election, he ran as a Democrat.
He worked with Young American Vendors, a vending machine company.
Credit: Submitted photo
Credit: Submitted photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
Derek Mallow: Democrat Derek Mallow opted not to run to keep his House 163 seat this year, instead choosing to run for the Senate seat left vacant by Lester Jackson. Mallow was first elected to House 163 in 2020.
Orlando Scott: Scott, a Democrat, ran and lost a bid for Chatham County Commission District 7 in 2020.
Scott is the District Manager for Advance Auto Parts Stores in the Savannah area.
Credit: Courtesy Orlando Scott
Credit: Courtesy Orlando Scott
Senate District 4:
Credit: Rick Lott
Credit: Rick Lott
Billy Hickman: Republican Sen. Hickman, Chatham County's newest Senator following the 2021 redistricting session, will be running unopposed this year. Hickman, an accountant, was first elected in 2020.
House District 161:
Bill Hitchens: Incumbent Republican Hitchens has represented the 161st District since 2013. Hitchens is a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and worked 28 years for the Georgia State Patrol.
Margo Barbee: Barbee, a Democrat, is a retired social work administrator. She'll be mounting a challenge to Hitchens. No information on Barbee's campaign was immediately available online.
House District 162:
Carl Gilliard: Incumbent Democrat Carl Gilliard has held the House 162 seat since 2016.
His career experience includes working as the pastor of The Miracle Christian Life Center for six years and as the president of the Georgia Coastal Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Fredrick Praylo: Praylo will be the first candidate to challenge Gilliard since he took office. Praylo, a retired Savannah-Chatham Metro police officer, was a member of the Beach High School class of 1976.
House District 163:
Weslyn "Mahogany" Bowers: Bowers is a Democrat, local radio host and community activist known to many as "Lady Mahogany." Bowers says if elected, she will look to provide job readiness training and certification opportunities, develop a community center, and push with other legislators for a rail system between Savannah and Atlanta.
Credit: Bunny Ware/for SavannahNow.com
Credit: Bunny Ware/for SavannahNow.com
Anne Westbrook: Westbrook, a Democrat, is an attorney who ran against current House 163 Rep. Derek Mallow in 2020, losing the contest by 19 votes. She'll be running on a platform of gun violence prevention, expanding access to health care, ending Georgia's maternal mortality crisis, promoting public safety through sensible gun laws, and protecting and expanding quality public education.
Credit: SOMI BENSON-JAJA
Credit: SOMI BENSON-JAJA
Credit: Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News
House District 164:
Ron Stephens: Incumbent Republican Ron Stephens has held his seat since first being elected in 1997. He serves as the chairman of the Chatham Delegation.
Chastity Pawvlik: Pawvlik is a political newcomer, and the owner and operator of Raw Fitness. She'll be the first GOP challenger Stephens has faced since he took office.
Marcus Thompson: Democrat Marcus Thompson works in sales at Hargray Fiber. Thompson ran against Stephens in 2020, but lost by about 1,400 votes.
House District 165:
Edna Jackson: Democratic Rep. Jackson will run unopposed after winning her seat in a special election in November. Jackson says she's running again "because of the encouragement that I have gotten from people across the board," noting that she's still learning the processes of the statehouse.
Credit: Will Peebles/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Will Peebles/Savannah Morning News
House District 166:
Jesse Petrea: Republican Rep. Petrea has held his seat since 2015, and he won't face a challenger this year. His career experience includes working as the chief development officer, vice president of the board, and co-owner of Altrus Assisted Living Inc. and Coastal Home Care Inc.
Correction: Clinton Young is running as a Republican. A previous version of this story incorrectly listed his political party affiliation. Young ran as a Democrat in the special election for House 165 in Nov. 2021.
Will Peebles is the enterprise reporter for Savannah Morning News. He can be reached at wpeebles@gannett.com and @willpeeblessmn on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Meet the candidates: All of Chatham's state representatives are up for election this year
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