Judge upholds eligibility of Public Service Commissioner candidate Shelia Edwards

A senior judge in Cobb County ruled last week that Shelia Edwards, the winner of the Democratic primary for a Public Service Commission (PSC) seat, qualifies as a candidate and remains on the ballot despite claims by the losing candidates from the Democratic primary race in May. 

The decision by David Emerson, Senior Judge of Superior Courts, upheld an administrative law judge’s decision in May that Edwards is not required to be a resident of PSC District 3, despite claims now from the two unsuccessful candidates, because she is running to fill a vacancy. Because of the exception to the residency requirement to fill vacancies on the PSC, she is qualified and remains on the ballot for the November race.  

Edwards won the May Democratic primary and avoided a runoff for the District 3 seat. She more than doubled the vote total of second place finisher, Chandra Farley. Small business owner Missy Moore finished a distant third. After Edwards won the primary, her two Democratic rivals filed legal challenges, unaware of the law pertaining to vacancies. 

After a two-hour hearing on Tuesday, Judge Emerson issued his ruling the next day in Edward’s favor saying, “The Court rules that respondent Shelia Edwards is not required to be a resident of Third PSC District and she is therefore qualified to be a candidate for Public Service Commission District 3 post.” In his writings, Emerson said, “it appears to the court that the General Assembly made an express exception to this (residency} requirement.” 

Edwards is running to fill a term vacated by Chuck Eaton, a Republican elected in 2018 to a six-year term on the PSC. Eaton vacated the seat last year when Gov. Brian Kemp appointed him as a Fulton County Superior Court judge. Kemp then appointed Fitz Johnson, also a Republican, to replace Eaton in the PSC District 3 seat until the next general election. Like Edwards, Johnson was a Cobb resident at the time of his appointment, He did not reside in PSC District 3 before Kemp tapped him for the role. 

A Georgia statute exempted him from the residency requirement because he was filling a vacancy. Edwards and her lawyer said the rule that exempted Johnson had to be applied to exempt anyone who wanted to run to fill the vacancy left by Eaton, including Edwards. 

Johnson, who owns a home in Cobb, is now running as the Republican nominee for the District 3 seat. He and Edwards will meet in the November General Election. 

Edwards was elated with the Judge’s ruling saying, “With this behind me, I can now turn my attention back to running my race, taking my message to the voters of Georgia about why the PSC should be working for them and not against them, and winning the PSC race in November with their support and vote.”