Nine New Commissioners Elected In Putnam County

A total of nine new commissioners will serve Putnam County following Thursday’s election.

Fred Vondra, Ron Chaffin, Chevin Eldridge, David Gentry, Ken Hall, Junior Phipps, Vinnie Faccinto, Terry Randolph and David Andrews will join the commission. 

Current Commission Chair Mike Atwood lost in the 12th district, finishing fourth among four candidates.

In district one, Vondra ran unopposed. He joins incumbent Jonathan Williams. Incumbent Sam Sandlin retained his district two seat with 37.8 percent of the vote. Candidate Ron Chaffin will be new to the commission beating out J. Mark Hutchins by just over 1.2 percent.

Eldridge and Gentry ran unopposed in district three. Gentry received 57 percent of the vote while Eldridge got 38.2. Hall joins the county commission representing district four. He received 35.7 percent of the vote. Incumbent Theresa Tayes edged out independent Rafferty Cleary by five votes, 384-379.

In district five, Junior Phipps led the race with 35.9 percent of the vote. Candidate Vinnie Faccinto takes the second seat with 32.2 percent, beating out independent candidate Johnnie Wheeler. Wheeler tallied 31 percent of the vote. 

The seventh district race saw incumbents AJ Donadio and Grover Bennett Jr. advance. Donadio finished with 40.9 percent of the vote. In district ten, Kim Bradford led all vote getters with 40.6 percent of the vote. Bradford will join Terry Randolph, a former district five commissioner.

The 11th district will be represented by incumbents Kathy Dunn and Darren Wilson. Dunn received 33.6 percent of the vote. Third-place vote getter Marcia Bowman finished at 21.3 percent.

District 12 saw David Andrews receive 32.8 percent of the vote. Andrews will join incumbent Cathy Qualls Reel representing the district.