UPDATED, 1 A.M.
Most East Cobb incumbents prevailed in Tuesday’s elections, but two races may not be determined for a while.
And the governor’s race could be headed for a runoff.
In the 6th Congressional District race, Republican incumbent Karen Handel was fighting to hold on to the seat she won in a special election last year against Democratic newcomer Lucy McBath.
As of this writing, Handel led by fewer than 200 votes, out of more than 300,000 cast, with a handful of Cobb and some Fulton precincts still not reporting.
That’s because some polls closed in Fulton around 10 p.m. after technical issues, and the last of the voters cast their ballots shortly before midnight.
Fulton is the battleground in the 6th District, which has been in GOP hands since 1978. Handel won East Cobb precincts with 56 percent of the vote, while Handel cruised in north and central DeKalb with 59 percent.
In north Fulton, Handel’s home turf, she was leading 50.53-49.47 percent. Handel and McBath both told their supporters late Tuesday the final results won’t be determined until Wednesday.
The close race comes as Democrats were projected to regain control of the U.S. House.
In the Cobb Board of Education Post 6 race, Republican incumbent Scott Sweeney also was in a battle with a newcomer, Democrat Charisse Davis, for the seat that includes the Walton and Wheeler and part of the Campbell attendance zones.
Shortly before 1 a.m., and with 100 percent of the precincts in, Davis has 19,324 votes, or 50.46 percent, to 18,971 for Sweeney, or 49.54 percent.
Sweeney is the parent of sons in the Walton district, and was first elected in 2010. He got his biggest margins in his East Cobb base.
Davis is a former teacher and public librarian who lives in the Campbell attendance zone, and that’s where she picked up most of her votes.
Her election would cut the Republican majority on the seven-member school board to only 4-3. She also would be the only woman on the board.
Two-term Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell pulled out a close re-election bid to keep her District 3 seat that includes Northeast Cobb. A Republican, she defeated Democrat Caroline Holko with 33,899 votes, or 52.40 percent, to 30,790, or 47.60 percent.
Republican Cobb school board member David Chastain was re-elected to the Post 6 seat that covers the Kell and Sprayberry attendance zones. He defeated Democrat Cynthia Parr with 19,247 votes, or 54.18 percent, to 16,278, or 45.82 percent.
Another close race in East Cobb was for the State House District 37 seat. Republican incumbent Sam Teasley was holding a very narrow lead over Democrat Mary Frances Williams. He had 10,932 votes, or 50.34 percent, to 10,785 votes for Williams, or 49.66 percent.
Other East Cobb legislative incumbents, all Republicans, held onto their seats: State Senator Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick and representatives Sharon Cooper, Matt Dollar, Don Parsons and John Carson.
Cooper had the closest race of all, defeating Democrat Luisa Wakeman by 52.55-47.45 percent in the State House 43 seat she has held since 1997.
In the Georgia governor’s race, Republican Brian Kemp was holding on against Democrat Stacey Abrams after rolling up a big lead early in the evening.
But Abrams fought back as metro Atlanta counties reported, including Cobb, and the race could be headed for a runoff.
With 95 percent of all precincts reporting, Kemp had 1,925,539 votes, or 51.06 percent. Abrams received 1,809,629 votes, or 47.99 percent. Abrams, who won Cobb by 53-45 percent, came out to her supporters in Atlanta early this morning and did not concede.
Libertarian Ted Metz got just 35,659 votes, but his 0.95 percent share of the statewide vote could extend a contentious race for a few more weeks.
We’ll follow up these developments and take a deeper look at the other races on East Cobb News Wednesday and through the rest of the week.
UPDATED, 10:15 P.M.
The “Blue Wave” election Democrats were hoping for has been little more than a trickle thus far in East Cobb, with one major exception.
In the 6th Congressional District race, Republican incumbent Karen Handel and Democratic Lucy McBath are running just about even and have exchanged thin leads.
At 10 p.m., Handel held a slight lead, 50.89 percent to 49.11 race, with 61 percent of the precincts fully reporting.
Due to technical issues, some precincts in Fulton County closed at 9:30 and 10 p.m.
Live election night reporting
In East Cobb, a Republican stronghold, Handel enjoys a 68.6-31.3 percent lead.
McBath has a 53-46 percent edge in DeKalb, and McBath is up 50-49 in Fulton.
In the Cobb Commission District 3 race, Republican incumbent JoAnn Birrell is leading Democrat Caroline Holko 62-38 percent, but none of the seat’s 44 precincts are fully reporting.
It’s also early in two Cobb school board races in East Cobb, where Republican incumbents David Chastain and Scott Sweeney have 60 and 67 percent of the vote, respectively.
East Cobb’s legislative incumbents, also all Republicans, also are leading handily, with most having 60 percent or more of the vote.
In the governor’s race, Republican Brian Kemp had a big early lead over Democrat Stacey Abrams that has narrowed to around 55-44 percent with 63 percent of the precincts reporting.
Metro Atlanta counties still have to fully report, including Cobb.
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UPDATED, 7 P.M.
The polls are closed in Georgia. East Cobb News will continuously update this post all evening with results from local, state and federal races.
We’ll also be sending out a special election newsletter early Wednesday morning with the latest election results. If you’re not a subscriber, please click this link to have it delivered to your inbox.
Here’s the main election results link from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. You can customize it how you like.
What we’ll be tracking tonight: Georgia Governor, 6th Congressional District, State Senate 32 and State House seats 37, 43, 44, 45 and 46.
And locally: District 3 Cobb commission, Post 4 Cobb school board and Post 6 Cobb school board. There’s also the Cobb Sunday alcohol sales referendum, known as the brunch bill,
The earliest figures include early voting numbers.
Typically, metro Atlanta counties, including Cobb, are among the last to report, and with close races expected in many places, including the Georgia governor’s race, it’s going to be a long night.
UPDATE, 6:10 P.M.
Some East Cobb voters have told us (see below) that they noticed only a small number of voting machines at their precincts, and according to Cobb elections officials it’s an issue around the county.
Here’s what Cobb Elections said earlier this afternoon:
A large number of our voting units have been sequestered by a court order due to pending litigation and so they were unavailable to us. We thought we would still have adequate numbers, but the turnout is much higher than any mid-term we have ever conducted.
Several hundred Cobb voting machines have been sequestered for this election as a result of an order from the Georgia Supreme Court. It stems from a paper ballot lawsuit filed after last year’s 6th Congressional District special election.
Several precincts in Gwinnett County had technical problems with voting machines today, and at one of those precincts voting hours have been extended.
No such issues have been reported in Cobb.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 12:17 P.M.
Turnout is expected to be high today around the nation, Georgia and East Cobb as voters choose from a long list of federal, state and local candidates in midterm elections.
Voting continues until 7 p.m., and we’ll update this post continuously throughout the day and into the evening as returns roll in.
There aren’t solid numbers yet, but long lines of voters have queued up at some precincts around East Cobb. Heavy rains cleared through by lunchtime.
There are 10 competitive state and local races in East Cobb, including a Congressional race that late polls show to be a toss-up.
A county commission seat, two posts on the Cobb school board and several legislative seats are also on the ballot, as well as state offices, including a hotly contested governor’s race.
When we went by Eastvalley Elementary School around 10:30 this morning, there were about 50 people waiting to get inside (photo below). A stream of candidate signs greeted those entering the parking lot. There also was a “Blue Wave” tent with volunteers for Democratic candidates.
Further down Lower Roswell Road, Republican volunteers waved at motorists and held up signs for GOP candidates in front of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, where the parking lot was nearly full.
Voters reported waiting in line an hour or longer at some East Cobb precincts.
Stacy Sarrat Gibbs said she arrived at Pope High School at 9 a.m. and waited an hour. Patricia Young got to Garrison Mill Elementary School at 11 a.m., waited for 90 minutes, and said the line was “much longer when I left” around 12:30 p.m.
Andrea Barnard Winders got to her polling station, Congregation Etz Chaim, before the polls opened at 6:45, and cast her ballot by 7:35. She said her husband voted there later, arriving around 9:45 a.m., and he waited nearly an hour.
“Here is what I don’t understand: We only had six voting machines today but we usually have 12 at this location,” she said. “Why only six today?”
At Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, voter Jessica Loewy said she saw only eight voting machines. It took her an hour and 20 minutes to vote when she got there at 10:45.
Around 135,000 Cobb voters took part in advanced voting, around 27 percent of all registered voters in the county.
Related coverage
We’ll send out a newsletter first thing Wednesday morning with complete results. If you’re not already a subscriber to the East Cobb News Digest, click the link below to sign up.
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