Jan. 5 special election to fill Tarver's seat

A special election to fill Ed Tarver's vacated state Senate seat and Hardie Davis' vacated House seat will be held Jan. 5, six days before the start of the next legislative session in Atlanta.

Mr. Davis, who will run for the Senate seat, submitted his resignation to the governor Friday morning, which was also when the governor called for the election.

Before stepping down, he said, he wanted to be sure a date had been set so that both Senate District 22 and House District 122 wouldn't end up without representation in the next General Assembly.

Mr. Davis said Richmond County Board of Elections Executive Director Lynn Bailey asked him about his intentions, and once he had assurances, he resigned so she could get both elections held on the same day.

"From a taxpayer perspective, it's the right thing to do," Mr. Davis said.

Mrs. Bailey said the election will cost $70,000 to $80,000, with 46 of the city's 52 precincts open.

Qualifying runs from Dec. 2-4 at the secretary of state's office in downtown Atlanta. The cost is $400.

Legally, Mr. Davis would have given up his House seat the moment he qualified to run for Senate, and the same goes for another confirmed candidate, State Court Solicitor Harold V. Jones II.

Mr. Jones said he hasn't decided whether to resign ahead of time or wait until qualifying. He was on his honeymoon this week and said that when he returns next week he'll look at his workload and upcoming hearings and decide when to relinquish the job.

Taylor Bryant, the spokesman for the Libertarian Party of the CSRA, has also announced his intention to run.

Friday's events were set in motion Sept. 17, when President Obama nominated Mr. Tarver to be the new U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The Senate confirmed him Nov. 5. He resigned his seat and was sworn in last week in Savannah.

Mr. Jones' resignation could conceivably lead to Augusta having a succession of solicitors on the job between now and 2013.

When Mr. Jones resigns, Gov. Sonny Perdue will appoint an interim solicitor to run the office until a special election is held in November 2010, Mrs. Bailey said. The winner of that race will serve out Mr. Jones' term, which ends Dec. 31, 2012. Another election would be held that year to decide who takes over in 2013.

Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.