Former State Rep. Erick Allen has defeated Jaha Howard in a Democratic runoff in a special election for District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
Allen will face Republican Alicia Adams in the April 29 general election for District 2, with the winner to succeed Jerica Richardson.
In the runoff, Allen received 1,958 votes to 1,494 for Howard, a former member of the Cobb Board of Education (56.7 percent to 43.2 percent), with only three percent turnout (full results here).
The special elections were ordered by a Cobb judge after May 2024 primaries were invalidated due to electoral maps that were ruled to be in violation of the Georgia Constitution.
Those maps were drawn by Allen, of Smyrna, then the chairman of the Cobb legislative delegation, but never received a vote. Since leaving office, Allen has been the head of the Cobb Democratic Party.
Howard, a dentist in Vinings, served on the Cobb school board from 2019-22. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Georgia Senate and for Georgia Superintendent of Schools.
After the court rulings, Cobb Commissioners voted to vacate the District 2 seat that had been held by Richardson, a Democrat, who was drawn out of her East Cobb home in redistricting.
Richardson and her two Democratic commissioner colleagues honored the Allen maps for more than two years in making a “home rule” challenge. But two Cobb judges ruled those maps were illegal because only the legislature can conduct county reapportionment.
In January, Richardson lost her final appeal to stay in office—although her term expired on Dec. 31—and the commission has been operating with four members since then.
In the other special election, first-term Democrat Monique Sheffield won her primary in February in District 4 in South Cobb, and will face Republican Matthew Hardwick in the April 29 general election.
Sheffield’s term also expired on Dec. 31, but she has been allowed to continue serving until the special elections are decided.
Cobb Elections estimates the special elections will cost around $1.5 million.
Related:
- McBath files exploratory paperwork for Ga. governor’s race
- Democratic runoff set in Cobb Commission District 2 special election
- Richardson removed from office after appeals court rejection
- Richardson resumes seat as Cobb commission drama continues
- Richardson’s Cobb commission seat declared vacant by judge
- MORE: Visit the East Cobb News Politics & Elections Page
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
