Dems sweep competitive local races across metro Atlanta

Democrats swept competitive races for county commissioners in metro Atlanta — appearing to unseat Republican incumbents in Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett — and flipped the majority on the Cobb school board.

Based on preliminary results, the Fulton County Commission will have new faces in five of its seven seats next year, after voters appeared to choose four Democrats to fill as many openings, and a fifth Democrat to replace the commission’s only Republican incumbent on the ballot, Bridget Thorne.

Mo Ivory, who served as Fulton’s District 4 commissioner for a little over a year before qualifying to run for commission chair, held an insurmountable lead over Republican attorney Eric Tatum, with 416 out of 437 precincts reporting. In June, Ivory unseated longtime Chair Robb Pitts in the Democratic primary election runoff.

She will lead the governing body of Georgia’s most populous county as it tries to tackle crucial issues, including improving healthcare access in underserved areas and solving the ever-present problem of how to improve conditions inside the county jail.

A news release from Ivory’s campaign manager said her victory makes her the first Black woman and first Latina elected to the position, and caps a campaign “that called for a new generation of leadership in Fulton County.”

“Tonight, Fulton County voters made history, and I am deeply grateful for the trust they have placed in me,” Ivory said in a statement. “This campaign has always been about more than winning an election. It has been about building a county government that works better for the people it serves. That is the responsibility I take seriously, and it is the work I am ready to begin.”

In the race for Fulton Commission’s northern District 1 seat, Democrat Maggie Goldman appeared to have unseated incumbent Republican Bridget Thorne after a hotly contested race — four years after Goldman lost to Thorne by just 394 votes out of 72,410 cast.

That would leave Bob Ellis as the only Republican on the Board of Commissioners.

“Tonight, the voters of District 1 rejected election denialism and chose a commissioner focused on getting results for Fulton County,” Goldman said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Starting tomorrow, our focus turns to making sure commercial properties pay their fair share of taxes, improving the county services residents depend on, addressing the needs of our courts and justice system, strengthening our healthcare system, and making sure we are adequately caring for people experiencing homelessness,” her statement adds.

Goldman is a real estate agent and former chair of the board for Fulton’s Continuum of Care, a program that seeks to end homelessness in the county.

During the campaign, she questioned whether Thorne’s loyalty lies with the county or with MAGA Republicans, pointing out that Thorne was listed as a witness in an affidavit the U.S. Department of Justice used to justify the January raid of a county election operations center.

Thorne, who has said there could have been fraud in the 2020 election, also has emphasized that the information used in the FBI affidavit came from an earlier affidavit from 2020, and that she was unaware the January raid was coming before it happened.

She could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night.

In a special election to fill the District 4 seat Ivory vacated to run for chair, progressive nonprofit leader Rohit Malhotra held a commanding lead in a four-way race. He said he hopes to be sworn in as soon as possible, after the election is certified on Monday.

Malhotra, who narrowly lost last year’s race for Atlanta City Council president, was leading former Fulton Commissioner Natalie Hall; Aaron A. Sampson Jr., a former nonprofit chief executive; and Karen Rene’, a former East Point City Council member.

“Tonight is a historic night and when we said we were going to win up and down the ballot, we meant it,” Malhotra said in a statement to the AJC. “I’m so proud of the multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-generational coalition we built.”

He added: “The overwhelming number of people who supported our campaign creates a mandate to show up with urgency and moral clarity for working people across Atlanta, College Park, East Point and Hapeville.”

In District 5, Helen Willis held an insurmountable lead over Tiffany Henyard, a lifelong Democrat who ran as a Republican after she lost her reelection bid to be mayor of Dolton, Illinois, in 2025. She then moved to Union City. Her tenure as mayor in Dolton was marred by controversy.

In an interview with the AJC last month, Willis said she worked hard as a South Fulton council member to address food insecurity and a lack of access to healthcare, and already has a relationship with leaders of Fulton’s justice system.

And in District 3, Jodi Merriday was way ahead of Republican retiree Paul Burton. Merriday has served as ombudsman of neighborhoods for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, ombudsman of Atlanta Public Schools and as an assistant professor and lecturer at several colleges and universities in Georgia.

Cobb school board

The Cobb County Board of Education, which had been one of the few remaining GOP strongholds in the county, will shift to a Democratic majority after Tuesday’s election.

Democrat Michael Garza appeared to defeat Republican incumbent David Chastain by a double-digit percentage in a battle for the Post 4 seat, which represents unincorporated areas of Marietta and parts of the cities of Kennesaw and Acworth.

Political differences have sharply divided the board in the past. The Republican majority voted to ban books they considered inappropriate and, in 2023, they voted over objections of Democrats to fire a teacher for reading a book about gender fluidity to her class.

It’s unclear what a Democratic majority could mean for Cobb’s current superintendent, the politically conservative Chris Ragsdale.

The board, led by the GOP majority, amended Ragsdale’s contract in 2021 so that he can leave before the contract ends and receive severance, but the board would be required to give him 90 days notice if he’s terminated without cause. The contract gives Ragsdale more autonomy than other Atlanta area superintendent contracts.

It was the only Cobb school board seat that was contested in this election.

Becky Sayler of Post 2 and Nichelle A. Davis of Post 6 ran unopposed. Garza will join Sayler, Davis and Tre’ Hutchins to comprise the Democratic majority on the board. Republicans John Cristadoro, Randy Scamihorn and Brad Wheeler will make up the Republican minority.

Cobb commission, District 3

In Cobb County, Democrat Kevin Redmon appeared to beat Republican incumbent JoAnn Birrell, who was running for a fifth term, by a razor-thin margin.

Redmon, who works in information technology software sales, has said Cobb is changing, with younger families moving in who want to live where there are good schools and things to do near their homes — without traffic headaches.

“I got into this race because I care about Cobb County,” Redmon told the AJC in a statement. “My wife and I have lived here for more than 20 years, and we’re raising our daughter here. I want Cobb to be a place she’s proud to call home when she grows up, where our communities are affordable, our neighborhoods are safe, and residents have a real voice in the decisions that affect their lives.”

In an interview, Birrell said: “We ran a good race. Very positive, no attacks on my end, and I’m just thankful that I had 16 good years to serve my community, and I appreciate all the volunteers and family friends that supported me and helped me to get this far.”

DeKalb, Gwinnett commissions

Two competitive races were on the ballot for seats on the DeKalb County Commission.

In District 2, incumbent Democrat Michelle Long Spears appears to have won a second term by handily beating Ben Pepper, a self-employed Republican.

She thanked her constituents for their support in a statement to the AJC.

“I am deeply grateful for your trust and confidence, and I remain committed to putting people, pets and places first as we continue building a stronger, more compassionate DeKalb County,” she said.

And in District 3, Democrat Keyanna Jones Moore, an environmental policy aide, appeared to trounce Republican business owner Andrea Bass Smith.