Cobb County just might be getting a new city.
With all ballots cast during early in-person voting and on election day seemingly counted, about 54% had been cast in favor of creating the city of Mableton. No absentee ballots had been reported and results are incomplete and unofficial until they’re certified at a later date.
If the votes stand, the longtime community on Cobb’s southern tip would become a “city lite,” offering services like planning and zoning, parks, sanitation and code enforcement. Supporters hope more local control would help spur redevelopment and revitalization.
Mableton would become Cobb’s largest city — and mark the only recent cityhood effort in the county to succeed.
Voters earlier this year rejected proposals to create cities in East Cobb, Lost Mountain and Vinings.
The Mableton matter headlined a number of important local races on ballots across metro Atlanta Tuesday.
Key races are highlighted below.
Elsewhere in Cobb, incumbent District 3 County Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, a Republican, appeared headed for a comfortable win over Democratic challenger Christine Triebsch.
Over in Kennesaw, Lynette Burnette and Madelyn Orochena were the top vote-getters in a seven-way race for the District 1 City Council seat.
Fulton County
In the race to replace outgoing District 1 Commissioner Liz Hausmann (a Republican seeking a spot in the state Senate), Democrat Maggie R. Goldman and Republican Bridget Thorne were extremely close with most votes counted. Thorne had a lead of a few hundred votes.
Democratic challenger Dana Barrett, meanwhile, appeared poised to defeat incumbent District 3 Commissioner Lee Morris.
Results from special city council races in East Point, Roswell and South Fulton showed frontrunners — Josette Bailey, Sarah Beeson and Linda Becquer Pritchett, respectively — with significant leads. But none were over the 50% mark to avoid a runoff.
City of Atlanta voters, meanwhile, were deciding whether to extend Sunday alcohol sales hours at package stores, grocery stores and the like. The measure — which would allow sales from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. — appeared to pass overwhelmingly.
Fairburn residents also appeared to approve Sunday alcohol sales.
Gwinnett County
In Gwinnett, a renewal of the county’s special-purpose local option sales tax was well on its way to approval. Incumbent District 2 incumbent Commissioner Ben Ku, a Democrat, appeared set to cruise to reelection, posting a 2-to-1 vote margin over Republican challenger John Sabic.
The District 4 commission race went the opposite direction.
Republican Matthew Holtkamp appeared to oust incumbent Democrat Marlene Fosque by a healthy margin.
Earlier this year, Republican state legislators from Gwinnett circumvented the usual redistricting process by eschewing the maps presented by the Democrat-led local delegation and instead carving Fosque into a district that included the county’s more conservative-friendly northern tier.
When she was elected in 2018, Fosque became the first Black person to ever serve on Gwinnett’s county commission.
DeKalb County
In DeKalb, Tucker residents were voting on whether or not their city should take over certain public works and stormwater services from the county. The overwhelming decision was yes.
By early Wednesday morning, results from a special Doraville City Council race showed Warren Simmons leading Trish Thompson by just a few dozen votes.
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