Runoffs will decide races for Ga. House and DeKalb Commission

Runoffs may be needed to settle three elections held Tuesday — two for the Georgia House of Representatives and one for DeKalb County Commission.

None of the candidates appeared to win a majority, and the vote in all three races was split among several candidates. In one of the Georgia House races, to represent Cumming, unofficial results indicated the leading candidate was two votes short of winning outright and avoiding a runoff. Runoffs will be held July 14.

A look at the races:

House District 55: Shelitha Renee Robertson, an attorney, will meet Marie Robinson Metze, a retired educator, in a runoff to represent South Atlanta.

The two Democrats are running to replace former Democratic Rep. Tyrone Brooks, who resigned and pleaded guilty to a single count of tax fraud and no contest to five charges of mail and wire fraud. A judge on Monday disqualified Brooks' son, Tyrone Brooks Jr., from the race because he had failed to prove he lived in the district for at least a year.

The other candidates were Alysia Brown, a project manager; Mike Fitzgerald, a small business owner; John Guest, an interior designer; and Raghu Raju, an attorney.

House District 24: Sheri Smallwood Gilligan, a former CIA worker, apparently fell just short of winning a four-way race without needing a runoff to determine who will represent Cumming in the Georgia House of Representatives. But the results are unofficial, and they don't include provisional ballots.

Gilligan appeared to be only two votes shy of winning outright, according to the unofficial results. Unless vote totals change, she’ll face the second-place finisher, attorney David Van Sant, in a runoff. Both are Republicans.

The winner will succeed former Republican Rep. Mark Hamilton, who represented Cumming and resigned for a job opportunity in Tennessee.

The other candidates were Will Kremer, former chairman of the Georgia Association of College Republicans; and Ethan Underwood, an attorney.

DeKalb Commission District 5: Mereda Davis Johnson, an attorney and the wife of U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, will face George Turner, a retired MARTA executive, in a runoff to represent southeast DeKalb.

They received the most votes among 10 candidates seeking a seat that hasn't been occupied for nearly two years. They've lacked a commissioner since Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Lee May to serve as DeKalb's interim leader while charges are pending against CEO Burrell Ellis. May resigned the commission seat he was elected to last month, clearing the way for the election.