Putnam County moved one step closer to having a hometown representative in the state Legislature.

Chasing the legacy of former state Reps. Kelley Smith and Joe Pickens, Palatka native Bobby Payne eased to victory in the state House District 19 Republican primary race Tuesday.

Payne, a 58-year-old manager at Seminole Electric Cooperative, defeated Katherine Van Zant and Leslie Dougher and advances to a general election contest against Joe Snodgrass, the unopposed Democrat who has suspended his campaign because of a cancer diagnosis.

The District 19 seat came open because the current seat holder, Charles Van Zant, is term limited. Katherine Van Zant, 55, attempted to win her husband’s seat but finished second with 5,772 votes. Dougher, the former state GOP chairwoman, was third with 4,652 votes.

But it was Payne’s 7,588 votes that carried the day. A little more than half his votes came from Putnam County, his home county. He won Putnam with 55.56 of the vote.

“We are extremely excited about it,” Payne said. “It’s good to know, looking at the poll numbers throughout the district, that we had overwhelming support in Putnam County. It shows with the majority of the campaign team from here that the hard work and the effort to bring representation to our community, Putnam County, the center of the district, paid off.”

Payne thanked his family, friends and campaign staff, and singled out Smith and Pickens, former representatives from Putnam County, and John Browning, a prominent GOP fundraiser in the county.

In the three-way GOP primary things took an early turn when Dougher accused Katherine Van Zant and her husband of an illegal homestead exemption. Dougher also said she was filing a complaint with the state Commission on Ethics board.

Payne, however, remained relatively unscathed as the attacks began.

“We felt like it was coming, because we had taken the lead,” Payne said. “That’s not my style. It got extremely negative in the end. But I’ve received calls from both of the other opponents (Tuesday night), and we all talked about it. They’re happy for me. They offered congratulations.”

Dougher did not return a call seeking comment. When reached Tuesday night, Katherine Van Zant said she didn’t want to talk about the race and congratulated Payne.

“Let me just sum it up, I’ve congratulated Bobby,” she said. “Bobby won the race. He won the race. That’s the result we have.”

Seminole Electric Cooperative officials on Thursday announced there is a chance the company could build another power plant in Putnam County.

The power plant hosted an after-hours Putnam County Chamber of Commerce networking event, during which time Seminole CEO Lisa Johnson discussed how the company decides to plan for its future.

Johnson told government officials, business owners and everyone else in attendance Seminole plans for its needs now and years – even decades – in the future. The company is looking toward 2021 and beyond, she said, and Putnam could greatly benefit if Seminole needs a new plant.

“We’ve really got some stringent criteria we have to meet in order to make decisions,” Johnson said. “One of the decisions we have made at this point is if we decide that building a new power plant is either the solution or one of the solutions to meet our needs during that time frame, we decided that that power plant would be here at our Seminole plant.”

Johnson said Seminole thinks of its needs and how to benefit its consumers, and now, company officials are looking at a two-track plan of action.

The company will first look at the marketplace to see what other parties have to offer Seminole, she said. And depending on the marketplace, she said, the company will decide if building a new plant will be an option.

Local officials and residents were overjoyed at the prospect of building a new plant in Putnam County – and the economic windfall it will bring. But Johnson reiterated no concrete decision about building the new plant has been made.

“We haven’t made a decision, and we have a lot more work to do to get to a decision,” she said.

Seminole Communications Manager Ryan Hart said the company made plans to consider numerous locations to build the plant. And as of Thursday, he said, Putnam is the leader of the pack.

“We looked at several locations … and we eliminated the other options,” Hart said.

County Commission Chairman Chip Laibl, one of the people enthusiastically applauding Johnson’s speech, said a new power plant could do wonders for the county, which each year faces shrinking property tax revenues.

“At this point, the proposal is really game changing for Putnam County,” Laibl said. “If it does come to be, it will lure other investors. This one came out of nowhere, and it’s major.”

Laibl said he first heard about the potential plant only the morning before the chamber event.

The county is trudging through its budgeting process for the next fiscal year, and commissioners and county staff are facing depleted reserves, which for years have been used to balance the budget.

If Seminole and other companies build in Putnam County, it would be a surefire way to bring in more revenue and boost the local economy, Laibl said.

“Everyone’s talking about bringing homeowners,” he said. “But if you really want to grow your county rich, you need to grow the industrial and commercial aspects.”

Brenda Atkins, the Seminole Palatka plant director of operations, said one of Seminole’s objectives is “concern for community,” and the company strives to make their surrounding communities a better place.

She and Johnson said Seminole’s success is due in large part to its community partners, and they hope to carry on that partnership for years to come.

“Community service and community involvement is very important to Seminole Electric,” Atkins said. “And we couldn’t do it without you.”