Republican John Wilkinson won the Republican primary to retain his state Senate District 50 race Tuesday. He defeated challenger Roy Benifield, earning 62 percent of the vote, and faces no Democratic challenger in the fall. Who is he: A former agriculture education teacher, Wilkinson has been re-elected twice to the Senate representing District 50, which includes a portion of northeast Hall County along with Banks, Habersham and much of Jackson counties, after first winning a special election in 2011.