The new city of Stonecrest’s leadership is now set after voters chose their initial local leaders in runoff elections Tuesday.
Voters elected three council members to run the city of 50,000 people in southeast DeKalb County. They'll join Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary and two others on the council who won election outright last month.
Meanwhile in the new city of South Fulton, residents chose their mayor and all seven council members in runoffs.
The South Fulton mayor’s race pits Bill Edwards, a former Fulton County commissioner, against Benny Crane, an entrepreneur who helped lead the cityhood movement. Both rose to the top in a nine-way race to lead the city of nearly 100,000 people.
In early results, Edwards was leading the race by a large margin. And by Wednesday morning, he had won 59.85 percent of the vote.
Edwards, 67, said he wants South Fulton to have good schools and low crime. Crane, 60, wants to increase community policing, get the new city’s fire department accredited and improve entertainment options, which he said will lead to economic development.
In the council races, Catherine Rowell beat Willie Davis in District 1; Carmalitha Grubs beat Damita Chatman in District 2; Helen Willis won against Louis Bell in District 3; Naeema Gilyard took the lead spot against Manisha Thomas in District 4; Rosie Jackson beat Corey Reeves in District 5; Khalid Kamau won against Charlean Parks in District 6; and Mark Baker bested Linda Pritchett in District 7.
In Stonecrest, the winners of the council races were Rob Turner, a Georgia Department of Labor program manager; George Turner, a retired MARTA manager; and Diane Adoma, an H&R Block franchise owner.
Turner defeated a 19-year-old candidate, Mary-Pat Hector, who may be the youngest person ever eligible to run for elected office in Georgia.
Additionally, voters in Roswell and Johns Creek each elected a new council member. In Roswell, Lori Henry won against Marie Willsey in a runoff. In Johns Creek, Chris Coughlin beat John Patrick Flores.
Unofficial results for Metro Atlanta municipal runoffs
Stonecrest numbers represent final results. All numbers represent voting totals with all precincnts reporting.
JOHNS CREEK CITY COUNCIL
Chris Coughlin 10,010 - 63.81%
John Patrick Flores 5,676 - 36.19%
ROSWELL CITY COUNCIL
Lori Henry 10,601 - 57.81%
Marie Willsey 7,738 - 42.19%
STONECREST CITY COUNCIL
Post 2
Rob Turner 437 - 53.1%
Plez A. Joyner 386 - 46.9%
Post 4
George Turner Jr. 867 - 50.64%
Mary-Pat Hector 845 - 49.36%
Post 5
Diane Daniels Adoma 662 - 54.4%
Tammy L. Grimes 555 - 45.6%
SOUTH FULTON
Mayor
Benny Crane 5,302 - 40.15%
William Bill Edwards 7,904 - 59.85%
District 1
Willie G. Davis 606 - 28.43%
Catherine Foster Rowell 1,519 - 71.48%
District 2
Damita Kay Chatman 1,133 - 45.94%
Carmalitha Gumbs 1,333 - 54.06%
District 3
Louis M. Bell 690 - 33.48%
Helen Zenobia Willis 1,371 - 66.52%
District 4
Naeema Gilyard 1,052 - 54.59%
Mandisha Rhomas 875 - 45.41%
District 5
Rosie Jackson 690 - 51.45%
Corey Alan Reeves 651 - 48.55%
District 6
Khalid Kamau 1,127 - 66.80%
Charlean Parks 560 - 33.20%
District 7
Mark Baker 879 - 58.60%
Linda Pritchett 621 - 41.40%
— Staff Writer Lauren Foreman contributed to this story.
