Brian Laurens Denies Using Relationship To Throw Out Citation

After he was pulled over for running a stop sign, Laurens called Mayor Tim Downing to ask how he can have stop signs removed from entrances to a roundabout in his neighborhood.

Turner, Laurens Debate Ethics, Term Limits, Falcons Stadium

The two candidates in the Feb. 5 run off for the Georgia House District 21 seat faced off in a debate Tuesday night sponsored by the Cherokee County Republican Party.

A proposed new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons, ethics reform and term limits were on the minds of the two candidates who will be on the Feb. 5 run-off ballot to fill the Georgia House District 21 seat. Candidates Brian Laurens and Scot Turner participated in a debate sponsored by the Cherokee County Republican Party Tuesday night in downtown Holly Springs. Both Republican candidates spent a little more than an hour responding to questions asked by representatives from Cherokee's local media outlets and members of the Republican Party. The candidates touched on topics such as education funding, school choice, the Second Amendment, term limits and a proposal to use hotel-motel tax collected by the city of Atlanta to help fund a new …

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Early Voting For Cherokee Run-Off Election "Extremely Slow"

Less than 30 people have cast ballots ahead of the Feb. 5 special election to fill the Georgia House District 21 seat.

Very few voters have cast ballots early for the Feb. 5 run-off election to fill the Georgia House District 21 seat. As of late Tuesday morning, only 28 residents have voted early at the Cherokee County Elections and Voter Registration's office in downtown Canton, Elections Supervisor Janet Munda said.  "It's extremely slow," Munda added. "It looks like we may hit five percent this time." Munda was referring to the projection she originally predicted for the Jan. 8 special election for both the House and the Georgia Senate District 21 seats. The county ended up seeing a 10 percent turnout for that election.  Voters in the run-off will choose between Republican candidates Scot Turner and Brian Laurens, who came in first and second …

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Debate For House Run-off Candidates Set For Jan. 22

Republicans Scot Turner and Brian Laurens will face off in Holly Springs before their Feb. 5 runoff election.

Early Voting Starts Wednesday For Special Election

Voters in the Georgia House District 21 seat will vote in the Feb. 5 run-off.

Early and advanced voting for the Feb. 5 special election to fill the Georgia House District 21 seat will start on Wednesday. Voters who reside in the district can cast ballots between 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Albert L. Stone Elections Building at 400 East Main Street in downtown Canton.  Voters will choose between Republican candidates Scot Turner and Brian Laurens, who came in first and second respectively in last Tuesday's special election to fill the seat.  No voting will be held on Monday Jan. 14 as the elections office will be closed due to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Early voting will resume Tuesday Jan. 22 through Friday Jan. 25 during those same hours at the elections office. Voting …

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Debate for House Runoff Candidates Set for Jan. 22

Scot Turner and Brian Laurens will face off in Holly Springs before their Feb. 5 runoff election.

The two remaining candidates in the State House District 21 runoff election will explain their views during a debate to be held in Canton later this month. Scot Turner and Brian Laurens will be at the Holly Springs Train Depot in Holly Springs on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 p.m. as part of a debate hosted by the Cherokee County Republican Party. According to the debate's Facebook page, the candidates are expected to, "discuss and debate the issues that matter to the Cherokee voters." Anyone wishing to submit questions to be asked during the debate is welcome to do so, provided they e-mail their questions to ccrpdebate@comcast.net before 5 p.m. on Jan. 20. Turner and Laurens were the two biggest vote-getters in the Jan. 8 special election, but…

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Cherokee Special Election Turnout Higher Than Expected

Officials initially predicted a 5 percent turnout, but numbers were closer to 10 percent.

More Cherokee County voters showed up the polls to cast ballots in Tuesday's special election than officials anticipated.  In unofficial results, nearly 10 percent of voters in Cherokee County went to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the election while turnout in the Fulton County portion of the district hovered around 5.6 percent.  Out of 88,089 registered voters in both districts, 8,546 or 9.7 percent, cast ballots in the Georgia Senate District 21 and Georgia House District 21 races. Cherokee overall has around 129,000 registered voters. In Cherokee, Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Brandon Beach defeated former State Rep. Sean Jerguson of Holly Springs with 52 percent, or 3,925 votes. Jerguson received 48 percent…

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Unofficial Vote Count Complete, Runoff Looms for House Race

With 100 percent of votes unofficially tallied, Scot Turner leads overall, followed by Brian Laurens and Natalie Bergeron.

Update (9:55 p.m.): According to the Secretary of State's website, all votes for the House District 21 race have been tallied with no candidate earning a 50 percent plus one majority. Scot Turner leads the race with 1,496 votes, or 46.39 percent of the electorate. Brian Laurens is in second place with 971 votes, or 30.11 percent. Laurens and Turner will face each other in a runoff election to determine the House District 21 representative on Feb. 5. Update (9:10 p.m.): Scot Turner's lead in the House District 21 race has widened to a 46.39 percent margin, with 1,496 votes out of a total of 3,225 votes cast. Turner needs 50 percent plus one to avoid a runoff and become the representative for State House District 21. Updated vote totals can …

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