Early voting begins for 3 Fulton mayoral spots, other city leaders

Poll workers outnumbered voters during the morning at the Dunbar Neighborhood Center located at 477 Windsor Street SW in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Poll workers outnumbered voters during the morning at the Dunbar Neighborhood Center located at 477 Windsor Street SW in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Voters can now cast ballots throughout Fulton for their elected leaders, including three mayors.

Of course, there’s the Atlanta mayoral contest between Council President Felicia Moore and Councilman Andre Dickens sucking up much of the electoral oxygen.

But voters are also deciding who will run the 100,000-resident city of South Fulton and the 15,000-resident city of Fairburn. The incumbent mayors face stiff competition.

South Fulton’s William “Bill” Edwards is being challenged by Councilman Khalid Kamau, Democratic Socialist. Edwards is the four-year-old city’s first mayor and a long-time Democratic leader on the Southside, including time on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

Fairburn’s Elizabeth Carr-Hurst faces former mayor Mario Avery, who announced in July 2017 he wouldn’t run for another term without citing why. Carr-Hurst joined City Council in 2007 and ran unopposed after Avery’s term. Avery was the city’s first Black mayor, and Carr-Hurst was the first Black woman to serve as mayor.

Though they may not draw as much attention as Atlanta, these candidates have weathered controversy.

Voters can click here for an explanation of the Atlanta City Council runoffs.

Other notable non-Atlanta council races in Fulton include:

Milton Council District 1, Post 1: Jami Tucker versus Andrea Verhoff

Roswell Council Post 5: Michael Dal Cerro versus Will Morthland

South Fulton Council District 4: Naeema Gilyard versus Jaceey Sebastian

Early voting runs eight days — until Nov. 24 — at 16 sites from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., according to the county website. Here are the locations:

Adams Park Library, 2231 Campbellton Road, SW in Atlanta

Buckhead Library, 269 Buckhead Ave. NE in Atlanta

C.T. Martin Natatorium Recreation Center, 3201 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Atlanta

Chastain Park Recreation Center, 140 Chastain Park Ave. in Atlanta

East Roswell Branch Library, 2301 Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell

Gladys S. Dennard Library at South Fulton, 4055 Flat Shoals Road in Union City

Metropolitan Library, 1332 Metropolitan Parkway in Atlanta

Milton Library, 855 Mayfield Road in Milton

New Beginnings Senior Center, 66 Brooks Drive in Fairburn

Northside Library, 3295 Northside Parkway NW in Atlanta

Northwest Branch at Scotts Crossing, 2489 Perry Boulevard NW in Atlanta

Ponce De Leon Library, 980 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE in Atlanta

Roswell Branch Library, 115 Norcross St. in Roswell

South Fulton Service Center, 5600 Stonewall Tell Road in College Park

Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road SW in Atlanta

Wolf Creek Library, 3100 Enon Road SW in Atlanta

AJC reporter Zachary Hansen contributed to this story.

Credit: WSBTV Videos