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District 1 commissioner announces re-election plans
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JUNE DUKE-KNIGHT is now a “Certified County Commissioner” after having completed the required course of study with the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Commissioner Knight announced this week she plans to seek re-election next year.
District 1 Grady County Commissioner June Duke-Knight, who is only the second woman ever to serve on the Grady County Commission, recently completed training to earn her certification through the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
Commissioner Knight has attended continuing education courses offered by the Vinson Institute’s Lifelong Learning Academy to become a “Certified County Commissioner.”
“I want my friends and neighbors also to know that I plan to seek re-election next year. There have been some rumors out there that I was not planning to run, but I most definitely will run for a full four-year term,” Commissioner Knight said Tuesday.
Knight was elected in December 2017 to fill the unexpired term of former longtime county commissioner Elwyn Childs who resigned due to poor health in September 2017. Childs was in the first year of a four-year term and that term expires Dec. 31, 2020.
In a hotly contested runoff on Dec. 5, 2017, Knight defeated Richard Jordan 217-213. Prior to that, in a Nov. 7, 2017 special election, Jordan garnered 180 votes with Knight and candidate Earle Jeter tying for second with 131 votes each. A fourth candidate, Frank Jones, received 93 votes.
With no candidate earning a majority of the vote, a three-person runoff was scheduled, but Jeter withdrew making it a two-person contest between Knight and Jordan.
Commissioner Knight is the owner of The Wine Rack & Package in Cairo, which she has owned and operated for nearly four decades.
In addition to managing her own business, she has other work experience.
For approximately nine years, she worked with the State of Florida Attorney General’s Office in the Criminal Division as a legal secretary. She also worked for approximately six years for the Grady County Board of Education as a secretary and bookkeeper at Shiver School.
Knight is the daughter of the late Ellen and Ed Duke of Grady County.
Knight, who resides at 270 Trinity Rd., is married to Julian B. Knight. Mr. Knight, a lifelong Grady County resident, is a pecan farmer and raises Red Angus cattle.
By herself, Knight raised her daughter April Hester. Between them, June and Julian Knight have three children and nine grandchildren.
When she first announced her candidacy in 2017, Commissioner Knight said she was not a “yes” person and says she maintains that philosophy. She said since being elected to serve on the board she has not been afraid to ask questions or vote against the majority when she thought it was the right thing to do.
“You will be hearing more from me when election time rolls around, but I wanted folks to know that these rumors that I’m not running are not true,” Commissioner Knight said this week.
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