Special election for state House seat in Cherokee County set for Dec. 9

Five Republicans and one Democrat are running for the seat, which represents Canton and unincorporated parts of Cherokee County. The vacancy was created after Republican state Rep. Mandi Ballinger, who represented the area, died in October after a long battle with cancer.

The candidates are Republicans Bill Fincher, Brice Futch, Ann Gazell, Rajpal Sagoo and William Ware, as well as Democrat Scott Sanders. With several candidates in the race, it’s unlikely one person will receive a majority needed to win outright, making a runoff a likely outcome.

Early voting began Nov. 17 and continues through Friday at 7 p.m. Election Day is Tuesday, Dec. 9. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with most of the candidates about their hopes for the district. Here’s what they said.

Bill Fincher, Republican

Fincher, a prosecutor and former assistant district attorney, said traffic is out of control.

“Up in Cherokee County, we’re getting a tremendous influx of people moving in, and I don’t blame them. It’s a great place to live,” said “But we got to get people moving around on our roads. We haven’t caught up.”

He also wants to reduce property taxes.

“When somebody buys a house for $250,000 and then it’s appraised for $600,000 and they haven’t sold the house or done anything except try to live there, it seems unfair and that needs to be capped,” he said.

Brice Futch, Republican

Futch, a Canton firefighter and paramedic, wants to eliminate the state income tax, according to his website. Futch ran for state Senate in an August special election coming in fifth in that contest.

Ann Gazell, Republican

Gazell, a retired educator who spent more than 30 years in Cherokee public schools, also supports capping the amount of taxes property owners pay on their homes.

She said Cherokee needs to control its growth.

“We’ve got to work together and put some boundaries on it,” she said.

If elected, Gazell wants to support teachers by giving them more autonomy instead of requiring them to teach for standardized testing.

Rajpal Sagoo, Republican

Sagoo, a small-business owner and U.S. Army reservist, agrees that congestion has reached a fever point.

“Cherokee County is a major thoroughfare,” he said. “We are a commuter community, and Cherokee is in the center of several large corridors, so we have lots of people driving through the county.”

For the amount of traffic that passes through Cherokee, “it’s time we start finding ways to prioritize our projects at the state level,” Sagoo said.

He also wants to find ways to reduce the state income tax without dramatically increasing sales taxes.

Scott Sanders, Democrat

In September, Democrats saw hope in the results of a special electionin nearby state Senate District 21.

Although Democrat Debra Shigley ultimately lost, she managed to grow the Democratic share of the vote by about 9 percentage points, giving hope to some members of the party for future elections.

Sanders, a technology executive, is one of those Democrats Shigley inspired.

“Yes, they didn’t win, but it was still a huge victory,” he said. It gave Democratic voters “visible representation of what’s changing in this formerly dark red district.”

He said he’s running as a “common sense moderate,” supporting more funding for education and particularly special education.

“Every vote matters, and everyone has a voice,” Sanders said.

William Ware, Republican

Ware, who worked in compliance and inspection for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before retiring, said he got into the race to address concerns he has about child welfare and foster care.

“I’ve learned a lot that needs to be fixed in that system,” he said.

He’s also concerned about the rate of growth in the county.

“They’ve added so many subdivisions and population increases, and they really haven’t done much for the road situations,” he said.