Glynn County Commission District 2 candidates talk final days of campaign in Republican runoff

The highly contested Republican primary runoff for Glynn County Commissioner District 2 pits a newcomer against a longtime resident — Amy Abbott and Bob Duncan — who hold divergent conservative views on one of the most divisive issues on St. Simons Island: traffic circles.

In June 2022, the county commission approved a $6 million budget for constructing a roundabout at Sea Island Rd and Frederica Rd. Whoever wins Tuesday’s runoff is expected to wield significant influence over the rollout of this project.

Abbott, a mathematics instructor for Savannah Technical College, the University of South Carolina Beaufort and Johns Hopkins University, moved to Georgia with her husband from Ohio eight years ago—four of which have been in Glynn County. She edged Jesup-born Duncan by 20 votes in the May primary.

Abbott does not support the construction of the roundabout in any form.

“It’s gonna cost more than $6 million just to move the power poles. And they haven’t come to an agreement with Georgia Power over the cost of moving them. And then, in addition to that, there’s protected land at that intersection”, said Abbott.

She noted that she would instead bring a solution that would appease citizens who oppose the roundabout and would not violate protected land.

“People are ready to throw down a lawsuit right now over those pieces of land, so that’s going to hold up them being able to build it even if they can get the land,” said Abbott.

Duncan, whose family moved to Brunswick in 1960 and is a proud graduate of the inaugural Brunswick High class of 1970, says he favors the opinion of the experts. “We have to listen to the experts of the engineering company that the county hired to do the assessment. The roundabout is the recommended standard by all DOTs in the lower 48 half of the United States,” said Duncan.

His election platform, he said, can be broken down into three components: “Improving community safety, addressing traffic congestion and protecting the character and beauty of St. Simons Island.”

Abbott, meanwhile, says she would work to bring a traffic solution that would appease citizens who oppose the roundabout and would not violate protected land.

“People are ready to throw down a lawsuit right now over those pieces of land, so that’s going to hold up them being able to build it even if they can get the land,” said Abbott. “ So, in the meantime, if we could just put some smart lights in that coordinate with Harris Teeter and Atlantic when the Harris Teeter is green, the other ones also green so the light turns green and there’s no way to go because they’re stuck at the Harris Teeter light, it needs to be coordinated and maybe another turn lane, or just some turn lanes. It might take a little bit of the land, but it’s not going to take the amount of land that the roundabout would take.”

As a resident of District Two, Abbott insisted that managed development needs to be addressed.

“They [county commission] do a lot of no-bid contracts or contracts that don’t get a lot of competition. And they don’t really look outside the county. Sometimes they get competition and they go to a lot of the same people. And it would be nice if our bids and that’s would have some more competition,” said Abbott.

Duncan said his previous two experiences in public service, on the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission and the board of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, which he was appointed to by Gov. Brian Kemp, forged his interest in joining the county commission. He said he was not surprised by the election results in May, saying “you never know” how a vote will turn out.

He says that he plans to bring a sense of partnership to the county commission debates, and will balance what the constituents want.

“Everybody has a different opinion, but what is going to be the best overall,” said Duncan.

Supporters of the candidate have been actively campaigning and not opposed to slinging some mud.

An ad that ran in The Brunswick News stated Abbott was an active Democrat when she lived in Ohio. She vehemently denied this.

“I honestly don’t know what the rules are in Ohio for deciding that someone’s labeled Democrat. I’m guessing it would just be a guess with how it happened, but I’ve been voting Republican for a long time,” said Abbott. “I’ve definitely pulled a Republican ballot ever since I’ve been in Georgia, and when I was in Ohio, I was pulling Republican ballots in the primaries, so I don’t know where that might be, possibly when I originally registered the vote.”

She said this mistaken fact about her might have originated in her family’s past.”I think my parents were both Democrats at the time, but now they’re both Republican and my children, if they want to pull them, they’ll see they’re both Republican also,” she said.

Meanwhile, a separate a campaign flyer included the impression that Duncan was an incumbant. It read, “Re-elect Bob Duncan for County Commission.”

Duncan said it came from a political action committee that was not associated with his campaign. He said he had no comment as he did not approve it.

The incumbent in District 2, Cap Fending, chose not to run for reelection. The May primary attracted three candidates. George Ragsdale, a legal consultant, who garnered 20 % or 621 votes. Abbott received 40.32% of votes to Duncan’s 39.68%.

In Georgia’s majority voting system, a runoff is declared when no candidate gets more than half of the votes cast—the top two vote-getters face each other in a runoff election.

District 2 polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.