Barring a massive swing in Clarkston’s votes, the city has elected a new mayor.
With 57% of the vote, Beverly Burks appears to have defeated challenger Yterenickia “YT” Bell in Tuesday’s general election, according to DeKalb County data. Burks received 1,790 votes, while Bell received 1,350 votes — a 440-vote difference.
Both candidates were former councilwomen in Clarkston and ran during a special election to replace Ted Terry, who will join the DeKalb County commission next year. Councilman and Vice Mayor Awet Eyasu has been acting mayor in Terry’s absence.
Burks, who works as the community engagement director for the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority, was elected to the council in 2015. She ran for mayor two years later but lost to Terry.
DeKalb’s most recent vote totals, which were released early Thursday morning after all precincts and absentee ballots were counted, shows that roughly 53% of registered voters in Clarkston cast a vote for mayor. The city has a population of nearly 13,000.
The only votes that could still be counted are overseas absentee and military ballots, provisional ballots and any ballots that need to be cured, which is unlikely to change the mayoral race’s outcome. The county previously said roughly 200 ballots needed to be cured by Friday, dispelling rumors that thousands of cast ballots were in question.
A Clarkston spokeswoman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the city is waiting for the final vote count to be certified before calling the race, which is expected to happen next Friday.
The winner will serve as mayor until the end of 2021, which is when Terry’s term would have ended. As of 9:30 a.m. Friday, Bell had not conceded the race or posted about the results on her social media accounts.
Credit: City of Clarkston
Credit: City of Clarkston
About the Author
