Race for Clarke County school board seat down to two. Learn more here.

Voting in the runoff for the District 2 seat on the Clarke County Board of Education is scheduled for June 18.

The runoff features incumbent Claudia Butts against longtime Athens-Clarke County resident Mary P. Bagby.

Butts and Bagby were the top vote recipients in May 21 non-partisan balloting. Kirrena Gallagher, who was elected to the District 2 seat in 2020, but left in 2022 for an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Athens-Clarke County Commission, placed third in the contest. Butts was appointed to the District 2 seat after Gallagher’s departure.

Butts was the leading vote-getter in the May 21 contest, claiming 319 of the 893 votes cast, 35.72% of all ballots in the race. Bagby got 299 votes to claim 33.48% of the ballots cast, while Gallagher trailed with 275 votes, 30.8% of the ballots cast.

Butts is a native Athenian and Cedar Shoals High School graduate with a degree in psychology from Paine College, while Bagby is a frequent presence at school board meetings.

Voters residing in District 2, which covers a northeastern section of the county running roughly from Danielsville Road eastward to Athens Road, can cast early ballots from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. through Friday at the county’s Elections Office, 155 E. Washington St. in downtown Athens. Early ballots can also be cast from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday at the Miriam Moore Community Center at 410 McKinley Drive.

On election day, the Miriam Moore Community Center, Winterville Cultural Center, J.J. Harris Elementary School, Howard B. Stroud Elementary School, Gaines Elementary School and Athen-Ben Epps Airport precincts will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. for District 2 voters.

Voters who aren’t certain whether they reside in District 2, or in which voting precinct they should cast their ballot, can check the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page online at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/, or call the county elections office at (706) 613-3150.