Radford defeated former MARTA CEO Keith Parker by a vote of 16 to 9 on the second ballot of the election to fill the District 2 seat on the regional transit board. Art Sheldon, conservation chairman for the Gwinnett County chapter of the Sierra Club, also was nominated for the post, but did not get enough votes to advance to the second ballot.

The 16-member board governs an agency that oversees transit planning and funding in 13 metro Atlanta counties. Ten of its members are elected by district by state lawmakers and local officials who represent all or portions of those districts.

The District 2 seat has been vacant since board member Marsha Anderson Bomar resigned last April. The district includes parts of Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

A previous effort to elect Bomar's replacement in August ended in a procedural dispute that prompted most Republicans present to walk out in protest.