Waites, Hubbard headed to runoff in Georgia PSC District 3 Democratic Primary, Blackman officially disqualified

ATLANTA, GA—Keisha Sean Waites and Peter Hubbard are headed to a run-off in the Democratic primary for Georgia’s Public Service Commission District 3 seat, after emerging as the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s three-way race.  

Waites, a former Atlanta City Council member and former state legislator, led the June 17 race with 57,926 votes (46.05%), while Hubbard, founder of the nonprofit, Georgia Center for Energy Solutions, came in second with 41,879 votes (33.29%), according to unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State’s web site. Robert Jones, a former utility executive, placed third in the race with 25,996 votes (20.66%). 

However, since no candidate in the race received more than 50% of the vote, Waites and Hubbard will face off in a runoff on July15.  

Although the overall voter turnout for the statewide PSC races were low, the District 3 race took a dramatic turn when Daniel Blackman was officially disqualified last week after failing to prove that he met the 12-month residency requirement to run for the seat.  

Blackman was on and off the ballot for much of the early voting period after appealing a challenge concerning his residency.  He was ultimately removed from the ballot after his June 10 appeal. Election officials had to post notices at polling precincts on Election Day stating that Blackman was disqualified from the race. It was unclear what would happen concerning voters who had cast ballots for Blackman during the early voting period. 

The winner of the Democratic primary runoff—Waites or Hubbard—will face Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson in the general election on Nov.  4. Johnson, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary on Tuesday, was appointed to the PSC by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2021. This will be his first time on the ballot to retain the seat. 

The PSC is responsible for regulating the state’s utilities, (electricity and natural gas) setting utility rates for Georgia consumers and approving utility infrastructure projects such a power plants, grid upgrades, and natural gas pipelines.