The Council has compiled a spreadsheet that displays the winners from Tuesday night’s primary (only those with challengers; unopposed incumbents not included) and those in a July run-off election, along with the Statewide, Congressional and locally elected commissioners and councilmen from the Metro Region.
There were some upsets that surprised many pundits on Tuesday night. The Georgia State Senate lost two of the longest serving members of that body: Cobb County Senator Steve Thompson and Gwinnett County Senator Don Balfour both were defeated, along with two State Representatives, Charles Gregory and Sam Moore. The Council would like to thank Senator Thompson and Senatot Balfour for their long and distinguished careers in the Georgia Legislature and wish them the best in their future endeavors.
In local races, in what was seen as the anti-airport vote, Paulding County saw three incumbent Commissioners defeated; Fulton County Chairman John Eaves managed to win re-election, in what was a close campaign hat came down to less than 1% against challenger Commissioner Rob Pitts and Commissioner Emma Darnell defeated fellow Commissioner Bill Edwards, in a race caused by the drawing their districts together in redistricting.
In July, Cobb County resident will have the choice to return former Chairman Bill Byrne to the Cobb County Commission in the 1st District or instead go with former Acworth City Alderman Bob Weatherford, who has expressed his support for the Braves and critical transportation projects important to the Metro Region.
Cherokee County citizens wisely elected Chairman Buzz Ahrens to another term, which will prove important as the County continues to attract new industry, see housing permit applications rise and rapidly sees a younger demographic trend in the next decade move into its borders.
The Run-Off for many races is July 22nd and the Council will keep members informed as the date draws closer.