All four incumbents on the Fayette County Commission and Board of Education are running for re-election.

Each one will face opposition, too.

Incumbent Greg Powers has drawn two challengers for his seat on the school board: former school board member Bob Todd and Frank Oakley. Board member and Tyrone resident Lee Wright will be contested by two challengers who have ties to the school system: Faith Hardnett, a former principal of East Fayette Elementary, who later served as director of pupil services, and Kay Seabolt, who was the long-time math coordinator for the school system.

County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn, who waited until Friday morning to qualify before the noon deadline, will face competition from attorney Eric Maxwell, who announced his intentions more than a month ago. Commissioner Linda Wells has drawn three challengers: banker Sam Chapman and accountant Jack Smith, and business owner Rod Mack, who was the sole Democrat to qualify for a local seat.

Mack’s candidacy means the County Commission battle for Wells’s seat won’t conclude until the Nov. 7 election. The other three races will essentially be settled in the July 18 primary.

On the state level, incumbent Dan Lakly has qualified to run again for the Georgia House of Representatives’ 72nd district, but he will face two challengers: fellow Republican Bill Bonner and Democrat Kevin Madden.

Lakly and Bonner previously served together on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners.

Fayette’s other state legislators have all qualified without challengers, including Senator Ronnie Chance, Senator Valencia Seay and Representatives Virgil Fludd, Darryl Jordan, John Yates and Roberta Abdul-Salaam.

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