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Birrell holds onto Cobb D-3 commission seat

Three candidates vying for runoff in D-1 race
By
May 21, 2014

One Cobb County commission race appears settled; the other headed for a runoff, with three candidates still competing for the two slots.

Cobb District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell appeared to easily handle two challengers for her seat in the Republican primary Tuesday night, with unofficial results having her in the lead by a wide margin and apparently safe from falling under 50 percent of the vote, which would trigger a runoff with either challengers Michael Opitz or Joseph Pond.

The District 1 commission race, which featured five Republicans vying for the seat being vacated by Helen Goreham, had three candidates all within striking distance.

Former Cobb Commission chairman Bill Byrne led the pack most of the night, although just barely in front of Acworth councilman Bob Weatherford. Trailing just behind Weatherford was small business owner Angela Barner. The top two will head to a July run-off.

Democrat Derrick Crump was not challenged and will face the Republican victor for the District 1 seat in November.

About the Author

Dan Klepal is editor of the local government team, supervising nine reporters covering county and municipal governments and metro Atlanta. Klepal came to the AJC in 2012, after a long career covering city halls in Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky. He has covered Gwinnett and Cobb counties before spending three years on the investigative team.

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