Daniel Blackman, a Democratic candidate for Public Service Commission, is facing a formal challenge to his candidacy alleging he is not a legitimate resident of the PSC’s metro-Atlanta district.
The challenge, filed by Atlanta resident Rodney Stephens with the Georgia secretary of state, claims Blackman doesn’t officially live in Atlanta. The challenge comes after an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report detailing how Blackman changed his official address to a Midtown apartment last fall, giving him just enough time to qualify for the race.
“The only remedy is to remove Mr. Blackman from the ballot and allow those that have followed the Constitution of the State of Georgia to legally run in the Special Primary and Special General election,” Stephens wrote in his challenge request obtained by the AJC through the Georgia Open Records Act.
Last month, Blackman told the AJC his October move from Forsyth County to Fulton County wasn’t “solely political.” He said he also moved for professional and personal reasons, such as the apartment’s proximity to his office, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and his sons’ colleges.
Stephens said the District 3 candidate’s Midtown apartment could be a temporary address or second home, but he said he believes it is unlikely it is his official residence.
“Mr. Blackman’s residency is fixed at his Forsyth County address, and in the best case, the Atlanta address is a temporary or secondary residence according to the temporary collegiate situation of his sons,” Stephens said in his challenge.
Members of the Public Service Commission are elected statewide, but they are assigned to geographic districts. In order to qualify for a PSC race, candidates must live in a district for 12 months before they are eligible to run in that jurisdiction.
Voting history data from the secretary of state‘s office shows Blackman voted in Forsyth County on Nov. 5. That’s one month after Blackman said he moved.
On April 3, the last day of qualifying for the upcoming PSC race, Blackman changed his voter registration address to an Atlanta apartment.
This isn’t Blackman’s first time running for the PSC. In 2020, he narrowly lost a race for the commission’s District 4 seat. That district includes Cherokee, Gwinnett, Forsyth and parts of North Georgia. He ran and lost for the same District 4 seat in 2014 and, in between, lost a bid for a Forsyth County state Senate seat in 2016.
If the challenge is dismissed, Blackman will face off against three other Democratic contenders in a June 17 primary.
All three of his opponents — Peter Hubbard, Robert Jones and Keisha Sean Waites — declined to comment about the challenge.
There is an apparent connection between Stephens and one of the PSC candidates. According to Fulton property tax records, Waites sold a house to Stephens in 2022. Stephens did not respond to a request for comment. Waites, a former Atlanta City Council member and former state representative, declined to comment when asked about the house sale.
A Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings judge is scheduled to hear the case next week.
The PSC is a five-member board that decides what rates utilities can charge consumers and businesses. Elections for seats on the commission have been paused for five years while a court battle over how members are elected made its way through the courts.
During that legal fight, a state law passed last year extended the six-year terms of existing commissioners and set a new election schedule. That law is also being challenged in federal court.
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