Six candidates, including a lawyer, have qualified for a special election to fill a vacancy in the state House’s 71st District.

According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, the candidates are Cynthia Conradt Bennett, a 57-year-old educator and Democrat; 45-year-old general contractor Thomas Crymes, a Republican; Michael Farbo Jr., a 57-year-old retiree and Republican; Darryl Marmon, a 48-year-old plaintiffs’ attorney and Republican; David Stover, a 41-year-old business owner and Republican; and 59-year-old real estate broker Richard Weisser, a Republican.

This will be Marmon’s second attempt at winning the district.

The seat was vacated by former Coweta County Solicitor-General Robert Stokely, who beat Marmon last summer in the Republican primary. There was no Democratic candidate in that race.
Stokely announced last month that he would withdraw from the district seat in order to accept an appointment as magistrate judge.

“Recently, Coweta County Magistrate Court Judge Joseph Wyant was appointed to serve as Juvenile Court Judge for Coweta County and that opened an opportunity for me to be appointed to a four-year term full-time to replace him,” Stokely wrote in a letter to the governor and other state leaders on Dec. 14, that he later published on his campaign’s web site. “This opportunity is in the best interest of my family and I hope each of you and the citizens can understand that I need to do what is best for my family in taking this opportunity.”

Contributor: Kathleen Baydala Joyner in Politics | subscribe to rss |   share