# Attention Googlers: help with search **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947 "2022-07-14T13:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/1 "2022-07-14T13:24:56Z")
Clearly I have no talent with searching. Here’s the short of it. The New York Times carried a story today about Jason Lary, former mayor of Stonecrest, GA, being sentenced to prison. After I read the story and moved on, it stuck me that his political affiliation was not mentioned. Well, OK, the Times was keeping politics out of reporting. So I went to Google, and nowhere can I find this guy’s party affiliation. I think it’s part of his background as would be any educational affiliation, but I absolutely cannot find it. I call on Googlers superior to me to see if you can find the answer with a search engine. (No fair living in Georgia and knowing this. I still want to know, but I also want to know why I cannot find it with Google?) If you do find it with Google, please reveal what search terms you used. I used “Jason Lary political affiliation,” “What political party was Jason Lary,” “Jason Lary announces candidacy for Stonecrest mayor,” and a few others I cannot recall. I obviously stink at searching. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/2 "2022-07-14T13:37:22Z")
You’re right, nobody seems to mention it. But the red shirts seem to imply Republican. > **[Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary celebrates big victory, re-elected to second term...](https://ocgnews.com/updated-big-victory-stonecrest-mayor-jason-lary-re-elected-second-term/)** > > Mayor Jason Lary and wife Debbie Lary Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary scored the winning touchdown on Nov. 5 in his bid for re-election, soundly defeating Charles Hill, II and Diane Adoma in the city’s three-way mayoral race. Lary won a four-year term... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/3 "2022-07-14T13:42:55Z")
Maybe his party was the opposite of the prevailing party in his electorate, and keeping quiet about it was the only way he could get elected? Maybe you could try to find out who his opponent was, and see if you can find their party listed? Though depending on the structure of elections in Stonecrest, GA, that might not be definitive (they might use a “jungle primary” where the top two go on to the general election, for instance, so the two could be the same party). Or look for Democratic and Republican party endorsements for the race he won? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/4 "2022-07-14T13:44:48Z")
I mean, it could have been a non-partisan election. Those happen at least nominally. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/5 "2022-07-14T14:19:55Z")
I don’t see him mentioned at all on the Dekalb County Republican or Democratic party sites or Facebook pages. I also looked up his opponents on those sites, and other than them showing up at “meet the candidate” panels (which are non-partisan invites) they aren’t endorsed either. The Stonecrest elections are non-partisan, as are the elections in my city. You can choose to ask the county party to back you if you want (I did) but you don’t have to ask, and they don’t have to do it. And since the election is non-partisan there won’t be a party affiliation next to your name on the ballot. I looked up Lary’s voting history on the Georgia voter site but, unlike in Ohio and many other states, it doesn’t show which primary ballot he pulls when he votes. Some of the races he voted in (and he always votes!) do have a “NP” in the description which could mean he pulled a “non-partisan” ballot but I’m not sure. There’s no key. Georgia doesn’t seem to have voting history by party available to the general public, if at all. Guy seems to be truly independent, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/6 "2022-07-14T14:20:09Z")
[https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/voter-registration-elections/2019-election-results](https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/voter-registration-elections/2019-election-results) I initially thought (I) was for Independent but it’s for Incumbent. Looks like most mayoral elections I’m Georgia are officially non-partisan: > “For the most part, across Georgia, mayoral elections are nonpartisan. I think there are a few cities across the state that may have partisan elections, but the vast majority mayor elections are not partisan,” Andy Holland with the Houston County Board of Elections said. > Holland says the party affiliations for city candidates aren’t even placed on the ballot. [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/verify-no-most-georgia-city-elections-are-not-partisan/ar-AARCCcF](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/verify-no-most-georgia-city-elections-are-not-partisan/ar-AARCCcF) ---
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/7 "2022-07-14T21:57:11Z")
Thanks, folks. I’m guessing he leans toward some party. I still wonder which. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/8 "2022-07-14T22:55:17Z")
Most _people_ lean towards some party. Much less most local politicians. For some folks that doesn’t color their behavior in non-partisan offices much, and other folks are party-oriented ideologues through and through. The rest of us might be able to help solve the puzzle if we had more of the data that gives you your suspicions. What was the good Mayor sentenced for? What else do we know about his public record, both as a citizen and as a mayor, etc. Heck, what do we know of Stonecrest GA? This is … enlightening and not in a good way: > **[Stonecrest, Georgia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonecrest%2C_Georgia)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Stonecrest is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The boundaries of the city generally lie in the far southeastern corner of the county, and a smaller portion just north of Interstate 20. The city borders the existing municipality of Lithonia, as well as Rockdale and Henry counties. > Residents in the area voted in the November 2016 General Election to approve the city. In March 2017, elections were held to elect representatives for fiv... ex-Mayor Lary is nothing if not ambitious, ruthless, and selfish. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/9 "2022-07-15T06:00:46Z")
I still think someone that leans Democrat would _not_ be proudly holding up a red campaign shirt. Red/blue symbolism are too tightly built into American politics now. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/10 "2022-07-15T06:26:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > ex-Mayor Lary is nothing if not ambitious, ruthless, and selfish. The money quote from that Wikipedia link: > [@](#): > > Jason Lary, the former Mayor of Stonecrest pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing COVID-19 relief funds that were supposed to go to struggling businesses. Jason Lary, whose resignation went into effect at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan.5, 2022, pleaded guilty to three counts involving wire fraud, theft of government funds and conspiracy. Lary agreed that he diverted at least $650,000 in relief money by requiring Stonecrest churches and businesses to kick back a portion of their grant money to companies he controlled. [[9]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonecrest,_Georgia#cite_note-9) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/11 "2022-07-15T13:38:50Z")
Yeah. “First I created a town. Then I looted it.” Lovely. Without any specific evidence, I suspect that somehow along the way Lary had something to do with the land that was going to go to Amazon. Perhaps he bought farmland at $10 an acre and planned to sell it to AMAZ for $10,000 an acre. All using borrowed money. Perhaps he just planned to get (or actually got) a “commission” on the deal(s). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-googlers-help-with-search/967947/12 "2022-07-15T20:27:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Perhaps he bought farmland at $10 an acre Seems like he could have made better use of his time tunnel to 1870.