Early election results Tuesday night had several key races in the metro area likely headed for Aug. 21 runoffs, including the commission heads of Cobb and Clayton counties, while Brookhaven voters appeared to have given narrow approval to cityhood.
Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee, who came under increasing political pressure during the race for his work as a roundtable member on the T-SPLOST package, appeared to be headed for a runoff with former Chairman Bill Byrne.
Clayton Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell, also a roundtable member, was losing to challenger Jeff Turner. Like Lee, though, Turner was lacking enough votes to win outright.
With all but absentee ballots counted, north DeKalb County seemed likely to have a new city. DeKalb’s Brookhaven will be the latest metro Atlanta community to form a city, following the lead of Sandy Springs, Milton, Johns Creek and Chattahoochee Hills in Fulton County. Dunwoody was the last city created in DeKalb, in 2008.
A new Brookhaven will cost DeKalb’s budget about $22 million — a loss that county officials have yet to develop a plan to address.
And, in no big surprise, both Fulton and Cobb counties were poised to get Sunday alcohol package sales for their unincorporated areas. That would mean Cobb is completely wet on Sunday sales, and Fulton would have it everywhere but in three small cities.
A few incumbents appeared likely to walk away as winners Tuesday night.
Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand, who has come under fire recently for collecting personal fees that make him the state’s highest-paid elected official, was trouncing his two challengers, developer John Jamont and tax activist R.J. Morris.
DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis had a comfortable lead over rivals Gregory Adams and Jerome Edmondson, enough to avoid a runoff. With no Republican in the running, he is all but assured a second term.
Several heated metro area sheriffs’ races looked likely to continue into August.
Fulton County Sheriff Ted Jackson was leading four challengers, with former Sheriff Richard Lankford in second place. Jackson didn't quite have enough to escape a runoff.
Clayton County Sheriff Kem Kimbrough was leading a pack of seven challengers, including former Sheriff Victor Hill, who has been indicted on 37 counts that accuse him of racketeering and theft involving his time in office. Hill says he is not guilty.
Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton was leading challengers Lauren McDonald and Duane Piper, but not by enough to avoid a runoff. In that heated race, Paxton seeks to overcome a January incident in which deputies and firefighters found the married sheriff unconscious in the doorway of the home of a female friend who told authorities the sheriff had been drinking. The sheriff denied being drunk.
Two Gwinnett commission seats — closely watched after recent corruption scandals — both looked too close to call. Jace Brooks and Laurie McClain were in a dead heat for the seat vacated by Shirley Lasseter, who stepped down May 31 after pleading guilty to a federal bribery charge. District 3 incumbent Mike Beaudreau looked headed for a runoff.
In the first time Cherokee County’s school board chair is being decided by voters, board member Janet Read was ahead of Danny Dukes, who was a leader of the backlash against the board when it voted down Cherokee Charter Academy.
Cherokee Commissioner Jim Hubbard, a long-time incumbent and target of a tea party-led backlash against the Ball Ground Recycling deal that he signed off on in 2005, was leading challengers Ray Gunnin and Channing Ruskell, but may be headed to a runoff.
Staff writers April Hunt and Jeffry Scott contributed to this article.
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