Smyrna residents will decide more than one close race when they head to the polls to vote in the Dec. 3 runoff for mayor.
A re-vote is now required for the Ward 2 City Council race between incumbent Andrea Blustein and challenger Austin Wagner, said Cobb County Elections and Registration Director Janine Eveler.
The Nov. 5 municipal election resulted in Wagner leading Blustein by two votes. Wagner received 341 votes to Blustein’s 339 votes. However, Eveler said two provisional ballots counted Friday went to Blustein, which made the race a tie.
Blustein said she is glad that the race will be back on the Dec. 3 ballot.
READ | Smyrna mayoral candidates prepare for Dec. 3 runoff
“I think it will have a good ending rather than (the way) it was going before,” she said, referring to the razor-thin margin. “If I win, I win. If I don’t, I tried.”
Wagner said he would have liked the race to have been decided on Nov. 5, but he feels good about talking to voters and “getting some information out there about the importance of local elections and what’s happening in Smyrna.”
The race to become Smyrna’s next mayor will also be on the ballot. Ryan Campbell and Derek Norton are vying to replace longtime Mayor Max Bacon, who decided not to seek re-election after serving in office for more than 30 years.
Norton, the director of government relations for the Medical Association of Georgia, served on the City Council until he resigned in August to qualify for the mayor’s race. Campbell operates Chris’ Caribbean Bistro with his father, Chris.
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