Cobb County voters handed commission Chairman Tim Lee a dramatic defeat Tuesday in what some say is a referendum on his handling of the Atlanta Braves move to the suburbs.
With all precincts reporting, in unofficial returns challenger Mike Boyce won 64 percent of the vote. Lee conceded defeat in the election less than three years after he triumphantly announced the deal that lured the Braves to Cobb County.
In other races, Drew Ferguson beat Mike Crane in the runoff for the 3rd Congressional District, while Vernon Jones led Rhonda Taylor in the Democratic race for state House District 91. DeKalb County Commissioner Sharon Barnes-Sutton lost her bid for re-election.
Cobb County
By the time the first pitch is hurled from the mound of SunTrust Park stadium next spring, the man who lured the Atlanta Braves to Cobb County will be out of office.
Boyce, a retired marine colonel tapped into a deep well of resentment over the Braves deal.
Shortly before 10 p.m. Lee announced that his deficit at the polls could not be overcome and he had called Mike Boyce to congratulate him.
“I told him we, we would work with him to keep this county going strong,” Lee said, fighting back tears.
The mood on the top floor of The Strand Theater, where Lee hosted a viewing party, was resigned. There was much grumbling about the “Trump effect” that propelled the brash businessman Donald Trump to the top of the Republican presidential ticket at the expense of establishment politicians. Many seemed to attribute Lee’s defeat to a general hostility toward incumbents.
“It is what it is,” said Shawn Carlay, a healthcare administrator from West Cobb. “People want change.”
Lee said he had no regrets.
“I think voters are expressing a dissatisfaction with what they believe to be true,” Lee said. He called the Braves deal possibly “the most beneficial economic project for decades to come” for Cobb.
Lee said he was confident he did the right thing for the county, even if it made him unpopular.
Boyce ran a grueling grassroots campaign, reaching over 100,000 voters by phone or at their doorstep.
“Cobb County is a very conservative county and people simply want the respect shown to them that if you’re going to use their money, you have to ask them,” Boyce said.
He added that he would work to make SunTrust Park and the surrounding development a success, but warned he would be taking close look at the agreement between the team and the county.
Ironically, some of the same voters who voted against Lee said they were in favor of the Braves’ move to Cobb, but objected to the way the deal was negotiated in secret and committed some $400 million in public money to build and maintain a new stadium without a popular referendum.
Matt Booth, who works for a real estate research firm and lives within two miles of the new ballpark, said he would have voted for the stadium deal if given a chance.
“Lee likes to spend our tax dollars without asking us … so he doesn’t get my vote,” Booth said. “I’ve seen [Boyce] speak and he’s got his finger on the pulse of what the people of Cobb County really want.”
With no Democrat in the race, Boyce should face no opposition in the November election.
Congress/Legislature
Former West Point Mayor Drew Ferguson beat state Sen. Mike Crane, R-Newnan in the Republican runoff for the 3rd Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland.
Ferguson, a dentist, faces Grantville Democrat Angela Pendley in November, but he will be strongly favored to win the heavily Republican district.
Meanwhile, former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones defeated legal support consultant Rhonda Taylor in the Democratic race for state House District 91, which covers parts of DeKalb and Rockdale counties. The winner will face Republican Carl Anuszczyk in November.
DeKalb County
In a battle for the DeKalb Commission, challenger Steve Bradshaw defeated Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton.
Bradshaw campaigned on honest and accountable government, saying DeKalb needs competent leadership to move the county government past corruption scandals.
Sutton, who was first elected in 2008, was plagued by questions surrounding spending of government money and allegations of unethical conduct. She has said her actions were for legitimate purposes, and she has denied wrongdoing.
Bradshaw could become a swing vote on the divided DeKalb Commission.
Bradshaw will represent about 150,000 residents in DeKalb District 4, which includes Avondale, Clarkston, Pine Lake, Stone Mountain, part of Tucker and surrounding areas.
In a countywide race, Irvin Johnson was ahead of contract attorney Susannah Scott for DeKalb tax commissioner, responsible for collecting nearly $1 billion in annual property and motor vehicle taxes.
Johnson, who has worked in the tax office for 15 years, was being challenged by Scott, the daughter of of former DeKalb Tax Commissioner Tom Scott and former DeKalb Commissioner Jacqueline Scott.
The tax commissioner job is DeKalb’s highest-paying government position, with annual compensation of about $242,000.
Johnson has led the tax office since Jan. 1, when he took over for Tax Commissioner Claudia Lawson, who retired.
Fulton County
In Fulton County, incumbent sheriff Ted Jackson beat challenger Richard Lankford, a former sheriff who left office more than 20 years ago. The winner in the runoff will face Republican Ben Cowart in November.
With all precincts reporting, Jackson had 55 percent of the vote to Lankford’s 45 percent.
Jackson, the former FBI chief agent in Atlanta, last defeated Lankford in 2012. Lankford was convicted in 1990 of tax evasion and extortion after becoming a target of the FBI – the conviction was later overturned. He also ran for the office in 1996.
Jackson became sheriff in 2009. He said he had worked hard to get the county jail out from a federal consent decree.
Keith Gammage bested Clint Rucker in the solicitor general race, with two thirds of the vote.
Gammage is the chief assistant solicitor general in Clayton County while Rucker, the chief senior assistant district attorney in the Fulton County DA’s office, was the co-lead prosecutor in the Atlanta Public Schools trial and prosecuted courthouse shooter Brian Nichols.
And in two races to become a Superior Court judge, Belinda Edwards beat Sterling Eaves and Eric Dunaway defeated Gary Alembik. Edwards had 58 percent of the vote. Dunaway had 56 percent.
Elections and registration director Richard Barron said a little before 5 p.m. that there were no issues at the polls.
Clayton County
A veteran businesswoman won the District 3 commission race.
With 68 percent of the total vote Felicia Franklin-Warner defeated Eric Bell, a 25-year-old U.S. Navy veteran for the commission seat vacated by Shana Rooks.
Rooks, an attorney who also ended up in a runoff, won her bid for Superior Court Judge. She ran against former Clayton district attorney Jewel Scott. Rooks will succeed Superior Court Judge Matt Simmons who is retiring.
Forest Park Attorney Robert Mack won in another race for Superior Court judge. He defeated attorney Leslie Miller-Terry for the seat being vacated by Judge Deborah Benefield, who is also retiring.
Staff writers Mark Niesse, Arielle Kass, Tammy Joyner and James Salzer contributed to this article.
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