Fending off a challenge from the American First and MAGA-led local Republican Party, James Hall on Tuesday won reelection to another four-year term on the Chatham County Board of Elections.
The Chatham County Republican Party had taken the unusual step of recruiting Vicki Bradley to run against Hall for the $375-a-month job after disavowing him for what it said was his failure to support the local party. It painted him as a RINO — Republican-in-name-only — who had actively sought to sabotage the Trump White House’s election integrity initiatives in Georgia.
GOP voters in Chatham appeared to reject that argument on Tuesday, giving Hall 54.4% of the 18,276 votes cast to Bradley’s 45.2%, according to unofficial results.
Jody Voss, who ran unopposed for the elections board’s second Republican seat following the decision by Marianne Heimes not to seek reelection, will join Hall when a new board is sworn in in January.
Democrat Trish Brown easily defended her seat on the board, defeating Tara Scott-Brown with 54.4% of the 31,965 ballots cast Democratic primary voters to Scott Brown’s 45.5%. Ja’Quan Omari Oliver ran unopposed for the board’s second Democratic seat.
Tuesday’s election comes amid a significant transition in elections administration in Chatham.
In February, Brook Schreiner took over day-to-day operations of the elections office from Billy Wooten, who stepped away after overseeing the office for five years. Meanwhile, board chairman Thomas Mahoney III is expected to step down in December. His successor will be appointed by the board.
The newly elected board seated in January is likely to face renewed calls for the county to merge its elections office and its registrar’s office, which are currently separate, legal entities. The board is made up of two Republican seats and two Democratic seats, plus the chair.
Chatham is the only one of Georgia’s 159 counties that has one office in charge of voter records and another in charge of the voting process.
This article appears in 2026 Elections: Candidate lists, news.
