When the dust settles next Tuesday night, Coweta county will have two new County Commissioners and could have up to two new school board members.

In the County Commission District Two race, Republican Tim Lassetter faces off against Democrat Jett Smith. Lasseter defeated Commission Chairman Greg Tarbutton in the July primary. During a debate earlier this fall, Smith told voters that hew as a lifelong resident of Coweta County and wanted to make sure the county handles its growth. Lassetter works for the Eckerd Corporations in management and stressed his financial prowess.

In the District Three race, incumbent Larry DeMoss chose not to run for re-election. The two contenders for his post are Republican Randolph Collins and Democrat Willie Boyd. During the campaign, Collins said the key to controlling the growth in the county is economic development and said new industry could help offset some of the costs associated with growth.

Boyd stressed his military background and said he would not vote to raise resident’s taxes. However, if an urgent need came up, Boyd said he would poll his constituents and get residents opinions on how funding could be provided for necessary items. He also stressed his financial experience and said he would look closely at the county’s operating budget to make sure that everything was necessary.

In the school board races, incumbent Mike Sumner is facing Tommy Godfrey for the District 1 at-large position, while incumbent Smith Pass is facing former school board chairman Harry Mullins in the District 3 race.

The other race that has drawn attention is the 3rd Congressional District race. Grantville resident and Republican incumbent Lynn Westmoreland is facing Democratic opposition from Newnan resident Mike McGraw.

During a debate in October, Westmoreland said he was proud of how he had represented the district.

“I look at my campaign literature about every three or four months, and make sure I’m doing the things I promised my constituents. I’m a conservative Republican and fought my own party on several issues,” Westmoreland said.

McGraw said he decided to switch his party affiliation in April from Republican to Democrat and challenge Westmoreland because he couldn’t tolerate what was going on in Washington.

“It’s only gotten worse since April and this is a grassroots effort. I’m running on red, white and blue issues, not red state, blue state,” McGraw said.

The polls are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

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