HIAWASSEE – Three days of Special Qualifying for the Office of Towns County Sheriff ended at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, resulting in just two candidates for the upcoming Special Election set for Tuesday, Nov. 3: Daren “Bear” Osborn and Anthony Coleman.
Osborn has decades of law enforcement experience, serving currently as a captain at the Union County Sheriff’s Office. No stranger to Towns County politics, Osborn came close in 2020 by forcing a sheriff runoff election, and he is looking for voters to support him now to fill the remaining two-plus years of resigned former sheriff Ken Henderson’s term.
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North Georgia News — serving Union County since 1909.
Coleman is currently serving as interim sheriff of Towns County, having been appointed to lead the office four times since Oct. 28 following multiple suspensions of the former sheriff. Coleman is also a career law enforcement officer with extensive experience at the state level, and he is hoping voters will keep him at the Sheriff’s Office this November.
Both men are native to Towns County. Now that they have qualified, Osborn and Coleman will face one another in the Special Election for Towns County Sheriff set to coincide with the statewide General Election.
When voters head to the polls this fall, they will receive a single ballot with races for federal and state offices, the county SPLOST continuation referendum, and candidates for Towns County Sheriff.
And since only two candidates qualified, there will be no need for a potential runoff, so Nov. 3 is the latest residents will have to wait to return an elected sheriff to the Towns County Sheriff’s Office.
The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5.
Advance in-person voting will begin Oct. 13 and end on Oct. 30, including Saturday voting on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24. Early voting hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As usual, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.
