In a wild night of election results, south metro Atlanta voters in Clayton, Fayette and Henry counties stuck with a few incumbents, took a chance on newcomers and ended the evening in an upset for one veteran leader.
Pam Adamson, the incumbent District 1 Clayton County School Board Chairwoman, was ousted by newcomer Jasmine Bowles. Bowles, a 29-year-old former teacher and ecosystem engineer at PROOF Inc., won with 64 percent of the vote to Adamson’s 36 percent, on a very light turnout of 2,747 votes cast.
Other candidates, including incumbents, were more fortunate.
Vivian Thomas beat out four competitors to replace Blake Prince on the Henry County Commission. Prince, who represented District 4, vacated the seat to run for the state House of Representatives.
Thomas had almost 59 percent of the vote in the race, avoiding a runoff against three opponents. She will face Pete Peterson, who ran unopposed on the Republican ticket, in the fall.
“It’s an awesome feeling to take a moment to realize that others trust you to make decisions on their behalf,” Thomas said.
Fayette County, which was the first to finish counting its ballots, picked a new commissioner and a Republican candidate for school board.
Roy Rabold beat opponent Traci Fuller to represent Fayette Republicans in the fall general election for the District 2 seat on Fayette’s Board of Education. His competitor will be Democrat Sara Van Etten, who had no primary opponent.
“I’m happy and I’m excited,” Rabold said in a phone interview late Tuesday. “My team and campaign did a great job. I’m looking forward to the race in November and winning the seat.”
Edward “Edge” Gibbons, a program manager at defense contractor Raytheon, won his race Tuesday to become a member of the Fayette County Commission.
The Republican beat out two competitors for the District 3 seat with 50 percent of the vote, avoiding a runoff. Gibbons will replace Commissioner Steve Brown, who decided not to run for re-election. Gibbons has no Democratic opponent in the general election.
In Henry County, Donna McBride, Henry County School Board’s District 4 incumbent, will face Sophe Cooke Pope for the seat in a runoff. McBride narrowly edged Pope by just one percentage point in a three-person race with all of the votes in.
The battle for State Court Judge 2 will be fought in a runoff between Chaundra Lewis, the top vote-getter Tuesday, and David Brown. Lewis received 41 percent of the vote while Brown won 23 percent.
In an email early Wednesday morning, Lewis’ campaign thanked supporters for the “outpouring of love and support across all segments of Henry County,” but said the candidate still needs their help.
“Our fight is not done,” the campaign said. “We will continue to fight to bring justice, integrity and respect to Henry County’s judiciary. We ask for your continued support as we prepare for a run-off election on July 24.”
Clayton County Commissioner Sonna Singleton Gregory won her race to keep her District 1 seat, vanquishing opponent Regina Deloach 64 percent to 36 percent with 100 percent of the vote in.
Gregory’s Commission colleague, District 4 Commissioner Michael Edmondson, however, will face Demont Davis in a runoff after Edmondson failed to get 50 percent of the vote. Edmondson was backed by 43 percent of voters while Davis had almost 34 percent of support.
In the Clayton Schools contests, incumbent school board member Alieka Anderson held onto her District 4 seat outright with almost 60 percent of the vote.
And Victoria Williams beat Sidney Richardson for the Board of Education District 4 seat 63 percent to 36 percent.
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