Sheriff and State Rep. candidates share reactions to the election results 

HOUSTON COUNTY — The elections for Houston County Sheriff and District 147 State Representative have come and gone, and Republican candidates Matt Moulton and Bethany Ballard outlasted Democratic candidates Arthur Lee Harris and Ariel Phillips. 

Sheriff candidate reactions 

Matt Moulton will be taking the place of the late, great Sheriff Cullen Talton, who was the longest serving Sheriff in the State’s history. 

Moulton is excited to be the next Sheriff and said it is a bittersweet feeling. He added his stepfather had passed away after a battle with leukemia on the day of the election. 

“I was hoping that he would make it to see the results, but I know he’s in Heaven and is looking down now very proud,” Moulton said. 

Moulton said he is prepared to follow in the footsteps of the late Sheriff Talton. He emphasized that Talton did a great job preparing them all by equipping them with the tools and resources needed to do the job. 

“He’s prepared me well to lead the Sheriff’s Office. He believed in me, he put his trust in me and when he endorsed me back in January, he told the community ‘this is my guy and this is who I trust to do the job’,” he said. 

According to Moulton, Houston County can expect the same amount of professionalism from the Houston County Sheriff’s Office with him as Sheriff. 

“That same open-door policy is going to still be there. If they’ve got an issue with the Sheriff’s office, you can come sit down and talk to me as I’ll be willing to listen to you and do what we can to help,” he said. 

Moulton added once they get their numbers back up, the community will see some proactive policing targeting violent crime affect the youth of this county. 

“I just want to thank God first and foremost, with the last two years, the things, the obstacles I’ve faced to get to where I’m at right now, I couldn’t have done it without Him,” he said. 

Moulton also thanked the late Sheriff Talton and the Talton family for supporting him. 

“Sheriff Talton was the Sheriff for 52 years, and I could understand him feeling like ‘I don’t want anyone else to do it’, but they weren’t like that,” he said. “His family has welcomed me with open arms. They love me like I’m one of their own, and I love them like I’m theirs. They are an amazing family, and I look forward to representing their dad, grandfather and great-grandfather well into the future.” 

Moulton also wanted to thank the voters who voted for him. 

“They said they were going to support me and they did. I’m going to work hard to continue to earn their trust and respect.” 

Despite losing the election, Democratic candidate Arthur Lee Harris is feeling great after seeing the results. 

“The citizens of Houston County spoke, and I will go along with their choice,” he said. 

Harris said his next steps are doing the same thing he has been doing, which is being involved in the community. 

“This is not the end of anything but the beginning of a new era with Matt Moulton, and I pray and hope that he does a great job in carrying on the legacy and keeping everybody safe in Houston County and help make Houston County better,” he said. 

To the voters, Harris said it was their choice and that he still loves the community whether they voted for him or not. 

State Representative candidate reactions 

Republican candidate for State Representative for District 147 Bethany Ballard is thrilled to have won and to be able to serve for another term. 

“I’m honored that voters of House District 147 have chosen to send me back and work for them,” Ballard said. “I’d like to thank all of them for putting their trust in me, and I look forward to going back to Atlanta to continue working for our community and for Georgia.” 

Now elected for another term, Ballard is looking forward to continuing her work in education. 

“I’m very interested in making sure children’s literacy gets rolled out on time and effectively and with fidelity. I’m always keeping my eye on that as that is one of my biggest priorities,” she said. 

Computer Science is another one of Ballard’s priorities, making sure children are more familiar with technology. 

“Our world is not getting less technological, it is getting more, and we want to make sure that our kids graduate with what they need to be competitive, get really good jobs and to be contributing members of society,” she said. 

Ballard is thankful she gets to serve this community and wanted to say thank you to the people that voted for her.

Democratic candidate Ariel Phillips said she is feeling decent after seeing the results and added they made good ground compared to the last election. 

“The results were a little more positive than they were last time, so that shows me a positive trend and that is really all that I was doing this for,” Phillips said. “I didn’t go into a campaign just thinking I was going to win outright as I knew it was going to be an uphill battle, so seeing that we turned out a few hearts and minds throughout the campaign makes me really hopeful for the future.” 

Phillips’ next steps are already set. She will be going back to work full-time as a manufacturing analyst at Northrop Grumman Corporation as they let her work part-time while focusing on her campaign. 

“I also have a bunch of Board positions in local organizations that I’m going to be able to put a lot more energy into that I’ve had to kind of step away from over the last year, so I’m really excited to get back into that and do some more ground-work in the community,” she said. 

Phillips said she is eternally grateful for every person who supports her. 

“I am just really happy that I get to be part of a community that I can give back to, and I can’t wait to do that over the next few years by spending time giving back to the people who supported me, so that they know that the person they put their support behind was worth it,” she said.