ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) — Dougherty County voters will see one name for Board of Commissioners chairman on the Nov. 3 midterm ballot. The chairman runs the county board’s meetings, speaks for the board, and helps set the county budget, local taxes, and services like roads, public safety, and zoning.

Lorenzo Heard (D)

Heard, the incumbent chairman, is running unopposed.

Heard grew up in Leesburg and graduated from Lee County High School in 1981. He earned a business degree from Albany State University and a divinity master’s from Mercer in 2020, according to Dougherty County’s chairman profile. He has preached since age 17 and has led Greater 2nd Mt. Olive in Albany as pastor since 1993, where he backs tutoring, summer camps, and affordable housing work.

He was elected in May 2022 as the first African American chairman of the Dougherty County Board and took office in January 2023, according to WALB.

He says the county still needs steady leadership to move Albany and Dougherty County forward, and he wants to finish the work already underway, according to WALB primary coverage.

Where he stands, according to his campaign website and WALB coverage:

• Economy and tax base: Grow the economy and the tax digest, the total value of taxable property in the county, including through new housing and development
• Housing: Build more subdivisions, team up with the USDA and builders to add homes, and offer incentives for buyers, including public-service workers
• Education and youth: Partner with Albany State University and Albany Tech on degree completion and job training, and put money into youth sports fields and after-school tutoring
• Quality of life and public safety: Improve parks and rec, build a college-town feel, bring in living-wage jobs, support schools, and make getting guns off the streets a top goal

Information for this story comes from Dougherty County’s chairman profile, Heard’s campaign website, WALB’s report on his historic swearing-in, and WALB’s primary coverage on his reelection case. Early voting information and sample ballots can be found at Georgia’s My Voter Page.

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