Robert Judson McClure has withdrawn his candidacy for Roswell City Council after questions were raised over where he has voted and resided over the past year.
A Friday email sent to McClure from City Clerk Marlee Press said she planned to challenge his qualifications and ask the Secretary of State and Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to investigate. Press told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that questions about McClure’s candidacy stemmed from emails received from Roswell residents.
On Monday, McClure submitted a handwritten note to the Roswell City Clerk’s office stating his withdrawal from the race for the City Council Post 2 seat. He was running against candidates Michael Dal Cerro, Marisa Pereira and Allen Sells — for the seat being vacated by Councilman Mike Palermo.
McClure did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Candidates for Roswell City Council are required to have resided in the city for at least a year.
McClure’s Notice of Candidacy form for Roswell city council states he has an Alpharetta address that is located within a Roswell precinct. The former candidate says on the form that he has resided at his north Fulton home since 2021.
Questions began to arise about his qualifications to run for office in Roswell after Meghan McClanahan looked into McClure’s voting history and found he signed an application for an absentee ballot for a runoff race in Gwinnett County last November. A Suwanee address was also written on the form.
Roswell documents and open records requests by McClanahan and others were provided to the AJC by a separate Roswell resident. Among them is a Sept. 6 letter from McClure at the City Clerk’s office disputing any discrepancies. McClure says his father owns the property at the Suwanee address and he has not lived there for two years.
McClanahan, who considered running for the Post 2 seat through a Declaration of Intent form, said she became curious about McClure while doing “standard opposition research.”
“I came across a couple of discrepancies and it’s my nature to dig deeper,” she said. “He’s a nice guy … There were just questions to be asked. You can live in Roswell and vote in Gwinnett, but that’s voter fraud. I’m doing my part as a Roswell resident and citizen who respects the integrity of elections …”
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