VALDOSTA — Incumbent Dexter Sharper won the Democratic primary for his state House seat Tuesday, defeating Adrian Rivers 1,424 votes to 512 in District 177, according to preliminary numbers from the Lowndes County Board of Elections.

Sharper will face Deidra A. White, who was unopposed in the Republican primary, in the November general election.

Sharper was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2012.

“I would like to thank God and all my supporters,” he said Tuesday night, “as well as my wife and children for all the sacrifices they made.”

He said he looks forward to the November elections and a chance to “get back in and work hard for the people.”

In election forums earlier this year, Sharper supported Medicaid expansion, saying the pros of “taking a risk to help people with their health” outweigh the cons. He opposed campus carry, citing concerns that in an “active shooter” situation police might mistake an armed bystander for a criminal gunman, and said he voted for the original version of the religious freedom bill to protect clergy from being forced to perform same-sex marriages, only to vote down a revised version that would have affected Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender rights in the workplace.

During one forum, he touted his experience as a former city councilman and mayor pro-tem, and advocated criminal justice system reform, including eliminating automatic minimum sentences. He also opposed a proposal for the state to create “a second school system on the administrative side” by taking state control of troubled schools. 

Incumbent state Reps. Amy Carter, R.-Dist. 175, Jason Shaw, R.-Dist. 176 and John Corbett, R.-Dist. 174, ran unopposed and will be the winners by default in the November general election.

State Sen. Ellis Black, R-Dist. 8, and Democrat Gregory Williams ran unopposed in their respective primaries and will face each other in November.

All results are not official until certified by the elections commission.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.