Primary Runoff
By JARED PUTNAM

The runoff races for the July Primary Election will be decided Tuesday, August 8, as Union County voters head back to the polls to help determine four state elections.

On the Democrat ballot the race for the nomination of Lt. Governor has been narrowed down to Greg K. Hecht and Jim Martin. In the July Primary Martin received a higher percentage of the vote than Hect in Union County (54.33 percent to 30.30 percent)) as well as statewide (41 percent to 36 percent).

Also on the Democrat ballot is the race for Secretary of State between Gail Buckner and Darryl Hicks. Buckner topped Hicks statewide (25 percent to 22 percent) and in Union County (25.99 percent to 17.12 percent).

On the Republican ballot the decision for Republican nominee for Secretary of State is now a battle between Karen Handel and Bill Stephens. Although Stephens held an advantage over Handel in the primary in Union County (38.30 percent to 30.45 percent), Handel had a much higher total statewide. The race for Agriculture Commissioner has come down to Gary Black and Brian Kemp. In Union County Kemp found greater populatiry with voters (32.42 percent to Black's 25.06 percent) but Black had a significantly higher number of votes statewide.

Advanced voting began Monday, July 31 and will conclude Friday, August 4. Polls will open Tuesday, August 8 at 7 a.m. and close as 7 p.m. Those who voted in the primary must vote in the same party that they voted in then, either Republican or Democrat. Those who did not vote in the Primary can vote in either party. Election winners will be listed on unionsentinel.com Tuesday night, August 8.