The race to replace a disgraced DeKalb County commissioner is heading for a runoff.
Holmes Pyles, a retired state government employee, will face Nancy Jester, an actuarial consultant who previously served on the DeKalb Board of Education.
Pyles, who is 86 years old and has never previously run for office, won the most votes of any of the five candidates in the race.
Pyles and Jester meet in a runoff election Dec. 2 after none of the candidates received a majority of the vote.
The winner will represent more than 140,000 residents in north DeKalb, including Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville, Dunwoody and Tucker.
The seat had been held by Commissioner Elaine Boyer for 22 years before she resigned and pleaded guilty in September to a $93,000 fraud scheme.
The 86-year-old Pyles decided to seek the county commission seat to bring honesty to county government.
“They need somebody in there that’s not on the take,” said Pyles, an independent, after deciding to run two months ago.
Pyles has said he would clean up county government and support small businesses.
Jester, a Republican, has said she would make the county’s finances more transparent by putting government purchase records online.
“So many problems have festered in the opacity that has festered in DeKalb County government,” Jester said in an interview last month. “We need some sunlight.”
The other three candidates in the race were Wendy Butler, a land use attorney; Tom Owens, a Vietnam veteran; and Larry Danese, a retired engineer.
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