MACON, Ga. — Georgia's runoff races for the November 2024 election cycle were decided on Tuesday night, and two Central Georgia county commissioner races were finalized in the process.
Al Turner and Mark D'Agostino were challenging each other for the District 4 commission seat in Monroe County. They were the two top vote-getters out of a field of five candidates in the Nov. 5 election, but neither of them earned enough votes to seal the race in November.
Turner took 317 votes in the runoff race - 35 more than D'Agostino's 282 votes - and will take over the District 4 seat from incumbent George Emami. Emami announced his decision to retire back in May.
Emami was in his seventh year serving with the Monroe County Board of Commissioners when he decided to step down. He said he felt that being a being a commissioner was a part-time job for him, and he had other projects which required more of his attention.
"I'm just at a point where my businesses need me," he told 13WMAZ in a May interview after he announced his decision. "You know, they need me more than I think more than the county needs me. And so for me, it's a choice about what I'm going and not what I'm leaving."
In Dooly County, a familiar face will return to his seat as District 5 county commissioner. Incumbent David Barron received 257 votes in the runoff race, beating Wayne West, who got 195 votes.
Barron was appointed to serve as chairman of the Dooly County board of commissioners in January 2021, and has served in that position ever since.