By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
Republican Tim Echols Tuesday cruised to his party's nomination for another term on the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates utilities in the Peach State.
With 157 of Georgia's 159 counties reporting as of 9:45 p.m., Echols had amassed 76.2 percent of the vote in the PSC's District 2 to just 23.8 percent for challenger Lee Muns of Columbia County, according to unofficial results. Echols, who lives near Hoschton, will take on Democrat Alicia Johnson in November.
Meanwhile, former Atlanta City Councilwoman Keisha Sean Waites was by far the top vote-getter in a three-way race for the Democratic nomination in PSC District 3 but was headed for a runoff next month with second-place finisher Peter Hubbard. With 47.2 percent of the vote as of 9:45 p.m., Waites fell short of the 50 percent-plus-one-vote margin needed to avoid a runoff.
Hubbard, a clean-energy advocate, was running second with 32.1 percent of the vote, with former utilities executive Robert Jones trailing in third with 20.7%. The winner of the July 15 runoff between Waites and Hubbard will face incumbent Republican Commissioner Fitz Johnson in November.
Echols was elected to the PSC in 2010 and reelected in 2016. His term was supposed to expire in 2022 but was extended when the election was postponed by a lawsuit challenging the way members of the commission are elected. The plaintiffs argued that electing commissioners statewide instead of by district dilutes violates the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act by making it more difficult for Black voters to elect a candidate of their choice.
While the case was pending, the 2022 and 2024 PSC elections were postponed. As a result, Echols got three more years on his six-year term, while Fitz Johnson - appointed to the commission in 2021 - didn't have to face Georgia voters until this year.
A federal appeals court eventually ruled against the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, leaving the system of statewide elections of members of the PSC intact.
The commission's District 2 covers Fulton, Clayton, and DeKalb counties. District 3 stretches from Atlanta’s eastern and southeastern suburbs to Savannah.