Brian Hawkins has been elected to the county commission. He won the Republican Primary for district 2 and was to face write-in candidate Kathryn Birren in the general election. Kathryn Birren dropped out of the race on September 1, 2022 and thus Brian Hawkins was elected to the County Commission.
The entry of Ms. Birren into the election as a write-in candidate changed the complexion of the race. It would have been an uphill battle for Ms. Birren, since voters would have to know to write-in her name. In addition to Ms. Birren, the race only had Republican candidates: April Johnson-Spence, Mike Fulford, and Brian Hawkins.
Without Mrs. Birren’s entry the race would have been a universal primary, since there were only Republican candidates. This would have opened up the race to all voters rather than Republicans only as a primary election. It would have also meant that the top two finishers would face off in November unless one of the candidates received more than 50% of the votes.
Brian Hawkins won the hotly contested Republican primary and was set to face Ms. Birren. He was almost assured victory because of the challenges that a write-in candidate faces.
