Metro Atlanta voters went to the polls to choose from a host of county commissioners and other local officials Tuesday. Here’s a look at results from high-interest races by county.
Clayton County
Incumbent Clayton County Commissioner Sonna Singleton scored an easy win in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, as the voter dissatisfaction in 2012 that cost two other members of the commission their offices did not continue into this election cycle. Singleton avoided a runoff. Her challengers — Rosalilia “Rosa” Barbee, Joyce Baul and Richard Reagan — are the same three who ran against her four years ago.
Incumbent Michael Edmondson beat two challengers for the Democratic nomination for the District 4 commission seat — Larry Bussey and Robbie Moore. Unlike Singleton, Edmondson has voted along with the two commission members elected two years ago.
The winners of the Democratic primary take the office since there are no Republican running in either district.
DeKalb County
The crowded race for DeKalb County sheriff narrowed to incumbent Jeff Mann and DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones. The two will meet in a July 22 runoff.
The race for the seat vacated by former sheriff Tom Brown pits Brown, a long-time deputy appointed to the office in March, and Jones, who has never been a sworn law enforcement officer but served two terms as DeKalb’s CEO.
In that position, Jones ran the county’s day-to-day operations from 2000-2008. Before that Jones served in the Georgia General Assembly. But Jones’ tenure was marked with tension between county government and voters in North DeKalb, some of whom ultimately voted to form new cities to wrest control of local government.
Mann, a long-time DeKalb deputy, was hand-picked by the popular Brown. He is standing before DeKalb voters for the first time.
Cobb County
Cobb County commissioner JoAnn Birrell handily defeated the two challengers to retain her District 3 seat Tuesday night, winning 63 percent of the vote in the Republican primary, according to unofficial vote tallies. Birrell will not face a Democratic challenger this fall.
In the District 1 race for the seat being vacated by Helen Goreham, Bill Byrne and Bob Weatherford will compete in a run-off this July. Byrne, a former commission chairman for 10 years, won 28-percent of the vote. Weatherford, an Acworth councilman for the past 12 years, placed second with 24 percent.
Democrat Derrick Crump was unchallenged and will face whichever Republican emerges from the runoff.
Fayette County
One-term incumbent County Commissioner Steve Brown defeated two challengers in the Republican Primary to win another term on the board. With all the votes counted, Harold Logsdon was second with Don Haddix a distant third. There is no Democrat running for Fayette County’s District 3. Incumbent commissioners Allen McCarty, a Republican, and Pota Coston, a Democrat, won new four-year terms without opposition.
Fulton County
The race for chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners may be headed for a recount.
With all precincts reporting, incumbent Chairman John Eaves held a narrow lead – less than 1 percent – over incumbent Commissioner Robb Pitts in the Democratic primary. Under state law, a recount must be held in a race where the margin of difference is less than 1 percent.
The county still has some provisional and overseas ballots to count. County Elections Director Richard Barron expects those to be tallied by Friday evening.
Barron said a recount, if needed, would likely occur next week.
Meanwhile, most of the other commission races have been decided.
In Democratic primary, incumbent Joan Garner defeated Eddie Lee Brewster in Atlanta District 4. The Atlanta District 5 race appeared to be headed for a July 22 runoff between Marvin Arrington Jr. and Brenda Muhammad.
In the Republican primary, Bob Ellis defeated Eric Broadwell in the race for north Fulton District 2, while Lee Morris defeated three other Republicans in the race for District 3.
Gwinnett County
Unofficial final results show incumbent Gwinnett County District 4 Commissioner John Heard headed for reelection this fall. Heard beat out challenger Alfie Meek in the Gwinnett County District 4 Republican primary. There were no Democratic candidates.
Heard won about 57 percent of the vote. District 4 covers central Gwinnett including the cities of Rest Haven and Buford, most of Lawrenceville and part of Sugar Hill.
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