DALTON, Ga. — Early voting for the Nov. 6 general election starts on Oct. 15, and many candidates’ campaigns have gone into high gear.

“We are in the fourth quarter now,” said State Superintendent of Schools Richard Woods, who is running for re-election. “There are events happening all over the state, and we are trying to hit as many of them as we can. October is going to be a wild month, but we are excited.”

Woods, a Republican, was one of several candidates appearing Thursday night at Dalton State College’s Pope Student Center. He is running against Democrat Otha Thornton of Richmond Hill, a veteran of the U.S. Army and former president of the National PTA.

“This is part of our Constitution Week events here on campus,” said Cody Oglesby, a student leader with the college’s Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Committee. “We want to get students registered and engaged with the candidates and to learn more about the issues.”

Cody Oglesby, a student at Dalton State College, talks about the candidates forum held there

Eleven candidates or their representative were on hand. Each got a chance to give a brief speech and to mingle with the students and others in attendance.

“It’s really great to be able to hear them speak, to ask them about what they will do if they are elected,” said sophomore Travis Ford.

Terry Ross, owner of Rave Carpets in Dalton and one of two candidates in the Nov. 6 special Republican Party primary for the District 2 seat on the Whitfield County Board of Education, was among the candidates in attendance. The seat became open when Rodney Lock resigned in May.

“It’s very important to get out and meet voters and potential voters,” Ross said. “They are the people who will decide who will be the next person to serve in the District 2 seat.”

Ross, a former member of the school board, said the students were asking as many questions about the position he is running for as about his policy positions.

“They want to know what the school board’s function is,” he said. “They want to know how it fits in with the superintendent. They ask if we run the schools, and I say, ‘No, we just set the policy and procedures, and the superintendent, the administration and the principals and teachers actually implement those policies and procedures.'”

Ross is running against Jamie Johnson, a Dalton Police Department captain.

Richard Keatley, the Democratic candidate for state labor commissioner, said he was fielding similar questions.

“They’ve mostly just asked what the commissioner of labor does,” said Keatley, a Navy veteran and former professor at Georgia State University. He faces incumbent Republican Mark Butler.

The labor commissioner implements state laws dealing with workers and also oversees the gathering of statistics dealing with the state’s workforce.

Fred Swann, the Democratic nominee for state agriculture commissioner, said several students asked what that office does.

“I’ve been talking about promoting farms and Georgia-grown produce, but also regulating grocery stores, convenience stores, regulating gas pumps, regulating pet stores and large and small animal breeders, pesticide use, weights and measures,” said Swann, a programmer analyst from the Macon area. “Their response is usually ‘You do all that?’ And I say, ‘Well, I want to. That’s what the department does.'”

Swann faces incumbent Republican Gary Black.

Other candidates in attendance were:

• Donnie Foster, Libertarian candidate for insurance commissioner

• Ted Metz, Libertarian candidate for governor

• Michael Morgan, Democratic candidate for state Senate District 54

• Chuck Payne, incumbent Republican candidate for state Senate District 54

Candidates represented at the event were:

• Stacey Abrams, Democratic candidate for governor

• Sarah Riggs Amico, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor

• Brian Kemp, Republican candidate for governor