Polls have closed in Cobb County for Tuesday's runoff elections. Follow AJC.com for complete Georgia election runoff results and live election night updates from the AJC politics team.
Original story:
Lauren Jones was the only person to walk into Mableton’s Lindley Middle School as the polls opened Tuesday.
The 60-year-old was among the first to vote in Cobb County and across Georgia in a series of runoff elections for the things like the governor's seat and congressional races.
She said the Republican runoff contest between Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp, which polling indicated was neck-and-neck, was what brought her out.
She said President Donald Trump's endorsement is what pushed her toward Kemp. That, and what she said were Cagle's negative advertisements.
READ | Understanding Tuesday's GOP runoff for Georgia governor
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She liked that Kemp was for strong borders and his advocacy of the 2nd Amendment.
But Jones spoke mostly of Trump, the man she cast her ballot for in 2016.
Credit: Ben Brasch/AJC
Credit: Ben Brasch/AJC
“People are so demented about being against Trump,” she said.
Jean Scott, polling manager, said about 8:45 a.m. that 20 people had voted at the Vinings Public Library. She said about 10 percent of the precincts registered voters came out in May.
Coleman Goodwin, 75, walked into the polling place shortly after. He calls himself a consistent Republican voter.
He said he voted for Cagle because he said he felt the Gainesville politician had more experience than Kemp and a better chance of winning.
“I don’t want to let the bad guys in,” he said, referring to Democrats.
The winning Republican on Tuesday will face Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former House minority leader Stacey Abrams.
READ | The Jolt: A wistful end to a bitter GOP race for governor
READ | As Georgia voters decide GOP nominee, national group fires at Abrams
He said he feels the national Democratic leadership’s tone will only energize GOP voters more.
“All this rhetoric, hate rhetoric, from the bad guys is going to backfire,” Goodwin said.
The Cobb elections office reports that 11,657 cast ballots in person during early voting and 2,255 by mail.
Check out your Cobb ballots if you're a Republican, Democrat or non-partisan.
Here's how to look up your precinct.
And keep an eye on the forecast, which includes afternoon showers, by clicking here.
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