Voters across metro Atlanta cast their ballots on Tuesday in key local races including a Fulton County District Attorney, a citywide Atlanta City Council position, multiple sheriff races and a slew of county commission seats.
As unofficial and incomplete votes trickled in Tuesday night, incumbent sheriffs in Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett counties all had commanding leads over their opponents.
That includes Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat who has been at the center of multiple controversies and has even threatened to sue the county’s Board of Commissioners.
arvin.temkar@ajc.com
arvin.temkar@ajc.com
By 1 a.m. Wednesday morning as Fulton County counted the remaining votes, Labat appeared to win handily over a write-in opponent. Labat upended three opponents in the Democratic primary in May and did not face a Republican opponent.
Feuding between Labat and some members of the county’s Board of Commissioners is likely to continue into a second term, given how frustrated they are with Labat for entering into spending contracts and then asking the county to pay the bills. Labat has said he plans to file a lawsuit against the board, which he accuses of illegally trying to “control and dictate” how his budget is spent.
Some criminal justice advocates are concerned about Labat leading the office for a second term, saying he has presided over too many inmate deaths at the Rice Street jail. For his part, Labat says his office has addressed overcrowding, reducing the number of people in his custody by about 1,000 since he took office in 2021.
Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Late night results Tuesday showed that the incumbent sheriffs in both Cobb and Gwinnett counties had wide leads over their challengers, too, with a majority of precincts reported.
In Gwinnett County, incumbent Sheriff Keybo Taylor held a lead of roughly 60,000 votes over challenger Mike Baker with 99% of precincts reporting. In Cobb County, incumbent Sheriff Craig Owens held a lead of about 50,000 votes over his opponent David Cavender with about 88% reporting.
Taylor and Owens ran for second terms after a 2020 blue wave in both counties swept them into office. Both are the first Black sheriffs in their counties. They were also the first Democrats in decades to win their respective counties’ badges.
arvin.temkar@ajc.com
arvin.temkar@ajc.com
And both have faced controversies.
The Georgia Attorney General’s Office investigated extortion allegations against Taylor after bail bond company owners claimed he revoked their licenses for refusing to donate to his 2020 campaign. The attorney general’s office ultimately closed the case without attempting to prosecute.
Owens was caught on body camera video last year calling armed deputies to a Burger King to help him dispute an order.
Miguel Martinez
Miguel Martinez
Commission Chairs
County commission chairwomen in Cobb and Gwinnett appeared to win easily Tuesday. Like the sheriffs, both Cobb chairwoman Lisa Cupid and Gwinnett chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson were swept into their seats during the blue wave elections.
Cupid, who was first elected as a commissioner in 2013, appeared to defeat Republican challenger Kay Morgan by about 40,000 votes, while Hendrickson held an even wider lead over Republican John Sabic.
Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
County Commissions
Incumbent county commissioners in Fulton and Gwinnett counties appeared to cruse to reelection.
In Fulton, Republican incumbent Bob Ellis appeared to sneak by Democrat Megan Harris by about 8,000 votes with all precincts reporting.
Ellis was elected to office in 2014 and served as vice chairman of the board of commissioners from 2017 to 2019 and again from 2023 to 2024.
In Gwinnett, incumbent Kirkland Carden held a lead of approximately 14,000 votes over opponent Tim Le in the District 1 race.
Cobb Superior Court Clerk
Controversial Cobb County Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor, a Democrat, held a commanding lead over former Cobb County Attorney Deborah Dance with about 88% of precincts reporting.
Taylor won as the first Black superior court clerk in 2020 along with a ‘blue wave’ of Democrats that swept countywide offices in Cobb.
Taylor faced several controversies during her first term. In 2022, an AJC investigation reported that she took over $425,000 in passport fees, which clerks are allowed to take as personal income under Georgia law.
She then faced a GBI investigation after a whistleblower employee alleged Taylor ordered her to delete records instead of handing them over in an AJC request under the Georgia Open Records Act. The GBI’s investigation has been referred to the AG’s office for prosecutorial review.
In July, Superior Court Chief Judge Gregory Poole issued an emergency judicial order suspending certain deadlines and rules of the court due to faults within Taylor’s office causing extreme delays and issues in court processes. Taylor did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Dance previously said she came out of retirement to run for clerk after she heard about the issues plaguing Taylor’s office.
--- Staff reporters Alia Pharr, Sara Gregory, Reed Williams and Taylor Croft contributed to this report
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