Whitehead to run for state Senate

After spending eight years as a county-level politician, Jim Whitehead is ready to add his name to the ballot again.

This time, it will be with the hopes of representing the 24th Senatorial District at the state legislature.

Whitehead is planning to officially announce his campaign Friday at 10 a.m. in front of the Columbia County Justice Center in Evans. This will be the former Columbia County commissioner's first try for a state seat.

Sen. Joey Brush, R-Appling, currently holds the post, which he was elected to in 1996 after serving two terms in the state House.

Whitehead, who served on the county board of commissioners for eight years including two-and-a-half years as chairman, said he has been approached by people to run for the past six to eight months.

"I'm very humbled by the caliber of people who have called me," he said. "I just hope I can live up to their expectations."

Whitehead's campaign manager will be Sweetheart Cup Co.'s plant manager, Brett McGuire, and Whitehead said he is checking to see if he will be able to maintain his work as campaign manager of Sheriff Clay Whittle's re-election run.

The exact Senate district the two Republicans will be campaigning in remains unclear because of a court mandate to redraw the state's political lines. The 24th District, which stretches through 12 counties to south of Atlanta, could change by concentrating in the eastern part of the state.

Whitehead said that the district boundaries would not deter his campaign plans.

"I will run regardless," he said. "I have a lot of support in all those counties, regardless of where they are."

Brush said he currently is focused on work at the General Assembly and was not ready to discuss election plans.

"Campaign season will be later," he said.