Tuesday is Election Day in some parts of the metro area where runoffs are needed. Four seats on the Atlanta school board are up for grabs, and there is a runoff for the mayor of East Point in south Fulton County.
Turnout is typically low in runoff contests, but the stakes are often high. In Atlanta for instance, school board members will select a new school superintendent soon after they take office in January.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the city of Atlanta, and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in surrounding areas.
State House and Senate races:
Republicans Chuck Efstration and Teresa Cantrell are set for a runoff to represent District 104 in the state House.
Efstration, a former prosecutor, won about 38 percent of the vote on Nov. 5 while Cantrell, a former Gwinnett County planning commissioner, won about 26 percent. The district covers parts of Gwinnett County, and the candidates are vying to replace state Rep. Donna Sheldon, R-Dacula, who’s running for Congress.
Republicans Bruce Thompson and Matt Laughridge are headed into a runoff to represent part of northwest Georgia in the state Senate.
Thompson, a Cartersville businessman, won about 33 percent of the vote in the District 14 race while Laughridge, also a local businessman, won about 25 percent of the vote.
District 14 of the Georgia State Senate covers areas of Bartow, Cherokee and Cobb counties. Candidates are vying to replace state Sen. Barry Loudermilk, R-Woodstock, who resigned to launch a congressional campaign.
Atlanta Board of Education
Attorney Cynthia Briscoe Brown is challenging incumbent board member Reuben McDaniel, an investment banker, in the District 8 citywide race. McDaniel is also the board's chairman.
In another citywide contest, attorney Jason Esteves and Lori James, an education business owner and former student support team coordinator for Atlanta Public Schools, are running for District 9. Both are political newcomers.
In west Atlanta (District 5), Steven Lee, a counseling center director, is taking on Mary Palmer, an academic coach. Lee and Palmer are also newcomers.
Another pair of newcomers is vying to represent District 6 in south Atlanta. Dell Byrd, a property manager and former Fulton County Schools teacher, and Eshe Collins, an attorney and Georgia State University program director, face each other in Tuesday's runoff.
The following is a sampling of several local mayoral and city races of note that will be decided Tuesday.
East Point residents will select a new mayor. That race is between Clyde K. Mitchell and Jannquell Peters. In the two City Council races, Sharonda Hubbard and Sharon Shropshire are vying for the Ward A post, and Deanna Ingraham and Jackie Gibbons are seeking a win in Ward D.
In Sandy Springs, Andy Bauman and Karen Richardson are seeking the City Council District 6 seat.
Cori Davenport and Karen Robinson are seeking the Post 3 City Council seat in Johns Creek.
Austell's City Council Ward 3 race has three candidates, Randy Green, Martin Standard and Ann Turner.
In DeKalb County, Pine Lake voters will select a new City Council member between Lynn Alexander-Ehrlicher and Jeri Jaremko.
In Cherokee County, there's a Canton City Council race for Ward 1 between Sandy McGrew and Clint Weatherby; and a Ward 3 race between John Rust and Farris Yawn.
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