Voters in Bartow County still have to choose a sole commissioner and a tax official, and Chattooga voters are narrowing down their choices for sheriff.

Floyd County races were settled in the recent election, but run-offs are scheduled for Aug. 21 in neighboring counties. All precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Candidates had to win more than 50 percent of the vote in order to win their races outright, but there were multiple candidates for the seats still in question.

Registered voters who did not vote in the July 31 primaries may vote in their county’s runoff.

Those who did vote may participate only if the contests are in the primary they originally chose. That means Republican in Bartow and Democrat in Chattooga.

Probate Judge John Payne, the election supervisor in Chattooga County, said the turnout on Aug. 21 could alter the dynamics of a race.

“I’ve got 7,000 people who are eligible and didn’t come to vote,” he noted.

The July primaries drew just 43.42 percent of registered voters in Chattooga and 32.62 percent in Bartow.

Chattooga sheriff

Sheriff John Everett is struggling to fight off a challenge from Trion police officer Mark Schrader in the Democratic primary. Everett pulled in 1,302 votes in the four-person race and Schrader finished with 2,044, equal to 47.79 percent.

The winner of the runoff will face Republican James R. Dawson in the Nov. 6 general election.

Bartow sole commissioner

Republicans Mike Bearden and Steve Taylor are vying to replace Clarence Brown in Bartow’s sole commissioner seat that Brown has held for 21 years. They were the top two vote-getters in the five-person race and there is no Democratic candidate.

Bearden, an engineer with a degree in business administration, retired in 2009 as senior vice president of land planning for Gresham, Smith and Partners. He won 3,302 votes in the primary, equal to 22.76 percent.

Taylor owns Taylor Farm Supply in Cartersville, raises cattle in Rydal, and chairs the Bartow County Development Authority. He won 5,440 votes, equal to 37.49 percent.

Brown declined to endorse a commissioner candidate before the primary, and he said he won’t change his stance for the runoff.

Bartow tax commissioner

But it’s a little different in the tax commissioner runoff between Republicans Vicki Beck and Steve Stewart, whom Brown is backing.

Beck spent five years working in Bartow’s tax office and four years with the clerk of court. Stewart has 25 years as the county’s projects and facilities manager.

Brown said Stewart’s long service calls for special consideration.

“I’m afraid I hurt some people, but Steve Stewart’s been working for me for years,” he said. “If someone from my office had been running for county commissioner, I would have endorsed him. When you have people so dedicated, and if they want the endorsement, I would give it.”

Beck received 2,948 votes in the four-person primary, equal to 21.17 percent. Stewart had 6,559 votes, for 47.10 percent. There is no Democratic candidate.