Mereda Davis Johnson, the wife of U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson and a former DeKalb magistrate judge, on Tuesday led a 10-candidate field in the race for the southeast DeKalb County commission seat vacated by interim CEO Lee May.
Garnering better than 27 percent of the vote, she’ll be in a July 14 runoff against George Turner, a retired MARTA executive and the president of the District 5 Community Council. Turnout was 5.5 percent. See the entire results here:
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Up in Forsyth County, former CIA worker Sheri Smallwood Gilligan on Tuesday came within a handful of votes of an outright victory in the House District 24 special election to fill the seat vacated by state Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming.
According to the tally on the secretary of state's website, Gilligan won 49.97% of the vote, with 1,785 ballots. If that holds, she would be in a runoff with David Van Sant, a local attorney endorsed by radio conservative Erick Erickson.
Van Sant finished with 24.55 percent of the vote. Ethan Underwood had 20.69 percent, and Peach Pundit contributor Will Kremer finished with 4.79 percent. All candidates were Republican.
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In the House District 55 race, attorney Shelitha Renee Robertson finished first with 30.76 percent of the vote. She'll be in a runoff with Marie Robinson Metze, a retired educator. Both are Democrats. Michael Fitzgerald finished third with 22.33 percent.
A total 2,767 ballots were counted. It's hard to say how many votes Tyrone Brooks Jr., who was disqualified as a candidate on Monday night over proof of residency, siphoned off. Secretary of State Brian Kemp is not expected to produce those numbers – unless a court action arises from Fitzgerald or one of three other candidates who did not make the July 14 runoff.
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