East Cobb Politics & Elections

Proposed Cobb school board map aimed at keeping GOP majority

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Cobb school board proposed reapportionment map
The map proposed by board chairman Randy Scamihorn. For a more detailed view, click here.

UPDATED:

The school board voted 4-3 along party lines Thursday to submit the map proposed by Scamihorn to the state legislative reapportionment office.

The four Republicans voted in favor and the three Democratic members voted against.

A motion by Davis to keep the current lines failed 3-4, along the same party divide.

Original Report:

A reapportionment map to be proposed by the outgoing Cobb Board of Education chairman on Thursday is designed to maintain the board’s slender Republican majority.

Two others proposed by Democratic members attempt to prevent the GOP from building on that advantage.

The maps are included in the school board’s agenda for its December work session starting at 2 p.m. Thursday (previous ECN post here).

The GOP holds a 4-3 edge on a Cobb school board that has been deeply divided along partisan lines for the last two years, after Republicans held a comfortable 6-1 margin before that.

The proposal by Republican chairman Randy Scamihorn of Post 1  of northwest Cobb (see map at top) was added late Wednesday, and was crafted by Taylor English Duma LLP, a law firm based in the Cumberland area and which was hired to draw a new map for the Cobb legislative delegation to consider in January.

Democrats hold a one-member majority in the Cobb delegation, which also will decide new district lines for the Cobb Board of Commissioners, the six Cobb municipal council districts and Marietta school board boundaries.

The proposed Cobb school board maps are purely advisory.

In Scamihorn’s map, the East Cobb area of Post 6 that includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters would be shifted entirely to Post 5, represented by Post 5 Republican member David Banks, the board’s current vice chairman, who was re-elected in 2020.

That new post would also include the campus of Pope High School and some of the Lassiter High School attendance zone that Banks has represented since 2009.

He won a third term in November by fewer than 3,000 votes.

The new Post 6 that Democrat Charisse Davis has represented since 2019 would move to the Smyrna-Cumberland-Vinings area under the chairman’s proposal.

She lives near Teasley Elementary School, and that post would also include the residence of current board member Jaha Howard, another first-term Democrat who was elected to serve in Post 2, which includes the Campbell and Osborne clusters.

Davis has not made public whether she’s seeking re-election. Amy Henry, a parent of four children in the Walton cluster, has announced her candidacy as a Republican.

But Davis also has proposed a map that would keep some of East Cobb in Post 6 (see below).

That includes most of the Wheeler cluster and some of the Walton cluster; Davis and Howard also would both be drawn into Post 6 and a new board member would come from Post 2.

Proposed Cobb school board maps
For a detailed view of the Davis map, click here.

Howard has declared his intention to run for Georgia school superintendent.

Under Scamihorn’s proposal, the clockwise shift in the new lines would push Post 3 into the McEachern High School cluster. That’s currently in Post 7, where GOP incumbent Brad Wheeler barely won re-election last year.

The realigned Post 7 would include the Hillgrove, Harrison and Kennesaw Mountain high school clusters.

Scamihorn, who was was re-elected last year, would just barely fit into the new Post 1, made up of the Allatoona and North Cobb high school clusters.

Scamihorn’s proposed Post 4 would continue to include the Kell and Sprayberry clusters, and well as part of the Lassiter cluster.

Republican David Chastain, who has held that seat since 2014, has said he will be seeking a third term.

The only other candidate who has announced for Post 4 is Democrat Austin Heller, a Kennesaw State University student.

Davis’ map would keep most of the Kell and Sprayberry clusters in Post 4, and Post 5 would include the Lassiter, Pope and Walton campuses.

Her map would place Chastain and Scamihorn in Post 1, prompting a new board member to come from Post 4.

Post 3 board member Tre’ Hutchins, a Democrat in his first year in office, also has a map proposal that will be discussed Thursday afternoon (see below).

His Post 6 would retain some of the Wheeler and Walton clusters, but it would call for a new board member.

That’s because he’s proposing a Post 2 with Davis and Howard drawn together.

The South Cobb-area post Hutchins represents would include the Pebblebook, South Cobb and McEachern high school clusters.

Proposed Cobb school board maps
For a detailed view of the Hutchins map, click here.

 

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Cherokee legislator announces run for Georgia Senate 32 seat

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Charlice Byrd, Georgia State Senate candidate

Charlice Byrd, a Republican who represents Cherokee County in the Georgia House of Representatives, announced her candidacy for the Georgia Senate District 32 seat.

That’s a newly drawn seat that has contained most of East Cobb but will include Woodstock and part of Cherokee County following reapportionment.

Byrd’s campaign website can be found here.

Kay Kirkpatrick, an East Cobb Republican, has held that office since 2017.

Byrd was in the legislature from 2005-2013, and was a paid staffer for the Donald Trump presidential campaign in 2016. She won her old seat District 20 back in the 2020 elections.

She said she’s running for the state senate because “if the Democrats win in 2022, they will have control of both our State and our Nation. Our local communities are next in line. We cannot afford to let the Stacey Abrams Liberals and Joe Biden RINOs control our destiny, drain our bank accounts and trample our freedoms.”

Byrd is a former president of the Cherokee Republican Women’s Club and served on the Executive Committee for the Georgia Republican Party.

As a lawmaker, she worked on reforms in the Georgia foster care system and on election security issues. She and her husband live in Woodstock and they attend the First Baptist Church of Woodstock.

Georgia 2022 state senate maps
For a more detailed view, click here. Source: Georgia Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office.

Georgia Senate reapportionment sliced up East Cobb into four districts. District 32 stretches up to southern and western Cherokee County.

District 56, currently represented by Republican John Albers of North Fulton, will include northeast Cobb.

District 6, which will cut into southern areas of East Cobb, will have a new senator, as incumbent Sen. Jen Jordan is running for Georgia Attorney General.

Some areas of East Marietta will remain in District 33, represented by Democratic Sen. Michael Rhett.

In her announcement, Byrd did not reference Kirkpatrick, who has indicated she will be running for re-election in 2022. Last weekend she participated in the Woodstock Christmas parade with the Young Republicans of Cherokee.

In a social media posting after reapportionment ended Kirkpatrick said that “I am looking forward to representing Cherokee County and Marietta City in addition to East Cobb. I will work hard to get to know my new constituents.”

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Reports: Former U.S. Sen. Perdue to run for Georgia governor

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Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue will announce his candidacy for Georgia governor on Monday, according to published reports on Sunday.Sen. David Perdue

Citing unnamed sources, Politico reported that Perdue has been actively recruited to seek the Republican nomination from sitting GOP Gov. Brian Kemp by former President Donald Trump.

The story comes several days after Democrat Stacey Abrams, who barely lost to Kemp in the 2018 governor’s race, announced she was launching another bid for the office.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also reported that Perdue would be announcing, saying that he “has told allies he was motivated to join the race because he fears Kemp can’t defeat the Democrat again.”

Perdue, who lost his Senate seat earlier this year, had considered running in 2022 against Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is completing the term won in 2016 by the now-retired Johnny Isakson.

Trump narrowly lost Georgia in the 2020 presidential race, and was critical of Kemp for not working to overturn the election results.

Kemp has come under fire from some Georgia Republicans for that and other reasons.

In October, the Cobb County Republican Party passed a resolution censuring Kemp, over immigration and COVID-19 passports and not over issues directly related to Trump or the elections.

That action prompted the resignation of former chairman Jason Shepherd from the county committee. The Cobb Young Republicans then denounced the censure.

Former Democratic legislator Vernon Jones, a declared Republican gubernatorial candidate, has been trying to court Trump supporters with his criticisms of Kemp.

The former president held a rally in September in Perry, Ga., suggesting support for Abrams.

“Having her, I think, might be better than having your existing governor, if you want to know what I think,” he said.

Kemp recently received an endorsement from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

Trump’s complaints about the election results being “rigged” in Georgia diminished Republican interest in the January U.S. Senate runoffs.

Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who had been appointed by Kemp to succeed Isakson until the 2020 elections, were unseated by Democrats Jon Ossoff and Warnock, respectively.

Trump also is backing Herschel Walker, the former University of Georgia football star, who is running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate seat held by Warnock.

There’s also a GOP primary forming that includes Georgia Agriculture Secretary Gary Black.

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Stacey Abrams announces 2022 campaign for Georgia governor

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Stacey Abrams

Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost to Brian Kemp in the 2018 campaign for Georgia governor, said Wednesday she’s seeking the same office in 2022.

Abrams, a Democratic former state representative from Atlanta, announced on her Twitter account that “I’m running for Governor because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by zip code, background or access to power.”

The Tweet included a link for donations to her campaign and a video that referenced Medicaid expansion, access to COVID-19 vaccines, cleaning up from storm damage and reviving small businesses.

“In the end, we are one Georgia,” Abrams narrates in the video, “regardless of the pandemic or the storms, the obstacles in our way or the forces determined to divide us.

“My job has been to keep my head down and keep working toward one Georgia. . . If our Georgia is going to move to its next chapter, we’re going to need leadership.”

Abrams is the first Democrat to announce for governor, and she’ll be headlining her party’s efforts to win more statewide offices after Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff unseated GOP U.S. Senate incumbents earlier this year.

Warnock is seeking a full six-year term in 2022, but the emergence of Abrams—who’s become a Democratic fundraising, voting-rights and candidate recruiting powerhouse—will also generate national attention.

Republicans hold all other statewide offices in Georgia, including governor.

Kemp has not formally declared he’s seeking a second term.  Vernon Jones, a former Democratic state legislator from DeKalb County, has announced his campaign in the Republican primary.

Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue also is considering a GOP run for governor.

Abrams lost to Kemp in 2018 by less than 1.5 percent of the vote and never formally conceded, claiming that voting access was curtailed for many Georgians.

She launched a voting-rights and access organization, called Fair Fight, that also advocates for such issues as Medicaid expansion and medical debt relief.

Fair Fight also has filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Attorney General’s office and the Georgia Board of Elections over voting rights that is expected to go to trial in February.

Abrams won Cobb County in an election in which local Democrats made incursions in the Republican stronghold of East Cobb.

In 2020, Democrats gained control of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, while Republicans held on to a slight majority on the Cobb Board of Education.

Among the Democrats who won local office in 2018 is Charisse Davis, who defeated GOP incumbent Scott Sweeney for Post 6 on the Cobb school board, which includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters.

Davis has not announced whether she’s seeking re-election; the Cobb legislative delegation will be conducting reapportionment for school board posts and county commission districts in January.

Amy Henry, the mother of four students in the Walton cluster, is running for Post 6 as a Republican.

Formal qualifying for 2022 elections takes place in March, with party primaries scheduled for May.

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McBath to leave 6th Congressional District after redrawn map

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U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat who ended a 40-year hold on Republican representation in the 6th Congressional District in Georgia, is running for a new seat next year.U.S. Rep Lucy McBath, gun violence research funding, McBath border-funding vote

The second-term Congresswoman from Marietta—who has made gun-control one of her major priorities in office—said Monday she will be running in the 7th district, as Georgia’s Republican-led legislature was finalizing reapportionment.

The 6th District that includes East Cobb will soon contain more conservative territory, extending into Cherokee, Forsyth and Dawson counties.

The 6th has included North Fulton and North DeKalb, the latter being the strongest Democratic base for McBath, who defeated former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel in 2018 and 2020.

“It is no mystery why Republicans and the NRA [National Rifle Association] have decided I’m their top target,” McBath said in a statement issued by her campaign office. “As a Black woman, activist, and mother on a mission—they would like nothing more than to stop me from speaking truth to power about the gun lobby and Republican Party in Congress.

“So let me make something very clear: I refuse to stand down. We must fight Republicans every step of the way, and now is not the time to lose a mother on a mission in Congress.”

A former Delta Air Lines flight attendant, McBath had announced her campaign for a state legislative seat in East Cobb in 2018, then switched to the 6th Congressional District after a mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

After her teenage son Jordan was shot to death in Florida, she became active in gun-control efforts.

McBath noted the the new 6th District went 26 points for Trump in the 2020 elections, and the new 7th District—which includes South Gwinnett, Johns Creek and Alpharetta— has a voting population that’s 67 percent minorities.

McBath’s decision sets up a potential Democratic primary battle with U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, although there’s not presently an incumbent inside the newly drawn boundaries.

It also leaves the 6th without an announced Democratic candidate. Starting with Newt Gingrich, the GOP controlled the district handily, continuing with Johnny Isakson and Tom Price through the 2016 elections.

But when Price resigned to join the cabinet of former President Donald Trump, a 2017 special election revealed how the 6th had changed politically.

Political newcomer Jon Ossoff, a former aide to Democratic U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson of DeKalb, jumped into the race, fueled by out-of-state funding in what became the most expensive U.S. House race in history.

Handel won the special election and got strong support in East Cobb, but served only for a little more than a year after McBath unseated her.

Ossoff is now Georgia’s senior senator, after defeating former U.S. Sen. David Perdue in a runoff in January.

Several Republicans announced their intention to run in the 6th before the reapportionment session, including Jake Evans, who said in a statement that McBath’s record “won’t fly in the Sixth District, and it’s no wonder she has fled to another district. Our voters are ready for the Great American Comeback with the leadership of a bold and unafraid America First conservative.”

Georgia’s current Congressional delegation has eight Republicans and six Democrats, and once the final maps are approved, it’s likely the GOP will have nine seats.

As noted over the weekend, the proposed map would divide Cobb into four Congressional Districts, with East Cobb being split into the 6th and 11th. Three of those four seats will likely be in GOP hands, including freshman firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene.

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Proposed Congressional map would split Cobb into 4 districts

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Cobb Congressional district map
A Republican-backed proposal would split East Cobb into two Congressional Districts. For details, including precinct breakdowns, click here. Source: Dave’s Redistricting.

UPDATED, MONDAY, NOV. 22, 2021:

U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath announced Monday she’s leaving the 6th Congressional District and will be running in the newly drawn 7th District, accusing the GOP of trying “to stop me from speaking truth to power about the gun lobby and Republican Party in Congress.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

Georgia lawmakers are considering proposed maps for the state’s Congressional districts that would add a member of the U.S. House to the Cobb County delegation.

Cobb currently has three representatives, two of them Democrats, including Lucy McBath of the 6th District, which includes most of East Cobb.

But as the legislature continues a special reapportionment session, the latest proposed lines  in the Republican-dominated General Assembly aim to dilute Democratic political gains in Cobb County.

Georgia’s 14-member Congressional delegation currently has eight Republicans and six Democrats, and in recent elections Cobb has become a major metro Atlanta political battleground.

The latest map proposal would split East Cobb into the 6th and the 11th District, which currently is represented by Republican Barry Loudermilk.

On Thursday the Senate reapportionment committee approved the boundaries in a party-line vote, with the full Senate and House still to act on the measure.

Until McBath was first elected in 2018, the 6th had been in Republican hands for 40 years, and whose conservative representatives included former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, now-retired U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson and Tom Price.

Earlier drafts by GOP lawmakers took the strongly Democratic north and central DeKalb out of the 6th.

The version introduced this week would include Northeast Cobb, North Fulton, eastern Cherokee, much of Forsyth County, a slice of Gwinnett County and all of Dawson County.

Those are strong Republican areas, as is much of the 11th. Loudermilk, who hails from Cartersville, would retain all of his home Bartow County, most of Cherokee and Cobb County, including North Cobb, Marietta, some of Smyrna-Vinings and southeast Cobb.

Those areas currently in the 6th that would shift to the 11th are parts of East Cobb closest to the city of Marietta and that have been trending or leaning Democratic in recent elections.

You can find more details by clicking here; it’s an independent site called Dave’s Redistricting and shows precinct breakdowns and other data.

The only proposed district in Cobb that appears to be reliably Democratic is the 13th, currently represented by David Scott, and that would include Smyrna and South Cobb.

But the new map would take out parts of south and west Cobb that also have been strongly Democratic and have large numbers of minority voters.

Instead, the Republican map would place that area—in and around Powder Springs and Austell—into the 14th district.

It’s considered the most conservative district in Georgia, and includes most of the northwest parts of the state and Paulding County.

That district is represented by first-term Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who’s become a national figure for her strong support for former President Donald Trump and making fiery speeches and public statements on a variety of issues.

Greene initially filed to run in 2020 in the 6th District, but switched when the 14th became an open seat. McBath unseated former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel in 2018 and defeated her in a rematch last year.

Several Republicans have announced their candidacies for the 6th District, but qualifying isn’t until March 2022.

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McBath votes for Build Back Better bill that passes U.S. House

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In a mostly partisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives voted early Friday to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill, a vast expansion of the nation’s social safety net.U.S. Rep Lucy McBath, gun violence research funding, McBath border-funding vote

U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of the 6th District of Georgia was among the Democrats voting in favor of the bill, which passed on a 220-213 vote.

Only one Democrat voted against the legislation (you can read through it here), which got 13 House Republican votes and that now goes to the U.S. Senate.

The bill includes funding for universal pre-kindergarten, lowers the cost of prescription drugs, guarantees parental and caregiver leave, expands Medicare coverage, offers renewable energy tax credits, creates a Civilian Climate Corps and provides money for pandemic preparedness, among other things.

In a statement McBath said that “the Build Back Better Act will set us on a course to create millions of jobs, get Americans back to work, lower health care costs, and provide tax cuts to hard-working families. This historic investment will help put America on the path back to normal, and I am proud to support this package to help meet the needs of our communities.”

Voting against the bill is 11th District Republican Congressman Barry Loudermilk, who represents part of Cobb County. He called Build Back Better a “tax big and spend bigger bill.”

The vote in Congress comes as Georgia lawmakers are redrawing Congressional district lines.

A map proposed by Republicans in the GOP-dominated legislature would cut some of East Cobb from the 6th, which would add more conservative areas in Cherokee and Forsyth counties.

The new 11th district would include some of East Cobb.

The General Assembly is continuing to meet Friday and Saturday and could vote on Congressional reapportionment by Monday.

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2021 Cobb Education SPLOST results by East Cobb precincts

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Cobb SPLOST VI referendum
For more details, click here. Source: Georgia Secretary of State’s office

Following up last week’s Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum passage with some precinct-by-precinct details and related election tidbits:

  • Turnout was low, just under 10 percent across the county, with most East Cobb precincts in the 10-20 percent range;
  • The highest turnout was in the City of Marietta, which had mayor’s, city council and school board elections.

As we noted then, “yes” votes in the SPLOST referendum won every precinct, and handily.

What follows below is the vote count in East Cobb precincts. These include election day, advance, absentee and provisional totals, as well as the turnout at each polling station.

Yes No Turnout
Addison 290 84 15.53%
Bells Ferry 2 163 73 7.74%
Bells Ferry 3 126 46 7.33%
Blackwell 168 41 7.87%
Chattahoochee 133 45 2.96%
Chestnut Ridge 322 133 14.57%
Davis 176 64 11.49%
Dickerson 243 76 11.45%
Dodgen 227 75 14.51%
East Piedmont 127 57 7.25%
Eastside 1 301 134 14.58%
Eastside 2 376 159 13.30%
Elizabeth 2 208 79 11.94%
Elizabeth 3 329 76 14.66%
Elizabeth 4 164 72 8.10%
Elizabeth 5 323 81 14.12%
Fullers Park 310 110 12.33%
Garrison Mill 268 95 12.69%
Gritters 326 162 12.47%
Hightower 378 122 11.95%
Kell 153 75 11.70%
Lassiter 363 112 13.26%
Mabry 179 72 15.44%
McCleskey 200 56 14.67%
Marietta 6A 123 43 7.04%
Marietta 6B 528 175 25.69%
Mt. Bethel 1 317 140 11.18%
Mt. Bethel 3 209 82 8.84%
Mt. Bethel 4 207 86 10.02%
Murdock 466 181 16.24%
Nicholson 130 55 7.68%
Pope 252 144 13.23%
Post Oak 381 123 14.09%
Powers Ferry 178 102 8.14%
Rocky Mount 292 119 12.32%
Roswell 1 529 165 13.13%
Roswell 2 322 136 12.60%
Sandy Plains 292 151 15.23%
Sewell Mill 1 245 112 10.33%
Sewell Mill 3 251 103 7.64%
Shallowford Falls 272 133 12.10%
Simpson 187 51 13.06%
Sope Creek 1 207 92 13.91%
Sope Creek 2 262 114 8.02%
Sope Creek 3 146 74 7.71%
Terrell Mill 213 98 5.56%
Timber Ridge 252 65 13.18%
Willeo 224 85 11.06%

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Proposed East Cobb legislative redistricting maps revealed

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Cobb Senate reapportionnent draft maps
New Georgia Senate maps proposed by Democrats, at left, and Republicans differ sharply. Click the links for more details.

Proposed redistricting of legislative seats in Georgia include some major changes in lines affecting lawmakers representing East Cobb.

As a special session got underway on Wednesday, legislators for both parties proposed new boundaries, based on the recent 2020 Census.

Republicans hold majorities in both the state House and Senate.

Since the last redistricting after the 2010 Census, most of East Cobb has been included in Senate District 32, which also includes slivers of Sandy Springs and North Fulton.

Since 2017, that seat has been held by Republican Kay Kirkpatrick.

The Democratic map revealed last week would keep those lines essentially the same, leaving all of the 32nd in East Cobb.

A map released Thursday by the Republican Senate Reapportionment Committee would slice up East Cobb into three Senate districts. The 32nd would include areas of Northeast Cobb and part of Cherokee County.

Senate District 6, which has been held by Democrat Jen Jordan, a candidate for Georgia Attorney General in 2022, is being proposed to include the Cumberland area and East Cobb closest to the City of Marietta and along part of the boundary with the Chattahoochee River.

Senate District 56, represented by North Fulton Republican John Albers, would be redrawn to include part of Northeast Cobb, south Cherokee and the Roswell area.

Cobb House reapportionment maps
Proposed State House districts in Cobb from the Democrats, at left, and the Republicans. Click the links for details.

In the House, a GOP map still includes five seats in the East Cobb area: District 37, held by Democrat Mary Frances Williams, and Districts 43-46, occupied by Republicans.

But notably, the Republican proposal drew two longtime GOP incumbents into the same district, State Rep. Matt Dollar of District 45 and State Rep. Sharon Cooper of District 43.

They are co-sponsors of the current East Cobb Cityhood bill that will be taken up in the 2022 legislative session, and they took part in a virtual town hall on the subject in April.

But on Thursday, Dollar announced he would not be seeking re-election after nearly 20 years in the legislature.

He did not explain his reasons in a response to the MDJ, but said he would be proud to be represented by Cooper.

She has been a lawmaker since 1997 and is the House Health and Human Services Committee Chairwoman, but has had two closely contested wins over Democrat Luisa Wakeman in 2018 and 2020.

East Cobb News has left a message with Dollar seeking comment.

The other two East Cobb House seats are held by Don Parsons (District 44) and John Carson District 46), who would continue to have safe seats in either of the proposed maps.

In September, Senate Republicans proposed a Congressional redistricting draft that would redraw the 6th District seat, held by Marietta Democrat Lucy McBath, into a more Republican area that would continue to include East Cobb.

In late October, legislative Democrats proposed their own draft that would keep the 6th largely as it is, including East Cobb, North Fulton, Sandy Springs and North DeKalb.

The special reapportionment session is expected to last at least through next week.

In January, when lawmakers reconvene for their 2022 session, they will conduct local reapportionment.

Cobb commissioner districts and school board posts will be redrawn by members of the county’s legislative delegation.

For more on reapportionment, click here.

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2021 Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum passes easily

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Sprayberry High School, Cobb Education SPLOST

UPDATED, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3, 1:35 P.M.

Just as the Atlanta Braves were completing a 7-0 win over the Houston Astros to clinch the World Series, voters in Cobb County finalized another rout on Tuesday.

More than 72 percent of the voters casting ballots in the Cobb Education SPLOST VI voted yes (35,427), while 29 percent said no (13,713), with all 145 precincts fully reporting.

That means that starting in Jan. 2024, a one-percent sales tax for construction, maintenance and technology projects in the Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools will be collected for another six years, ending in Dec. 2029.

The SPLOST extension is expected to generate $894 million in revenues for Cobb schools and $71.5 million for Marietta schools.

The results compiled by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office can be by clicking here; they are final and unofficial. Certification of results by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration is scheduled for Nov. 8.

Slightly less than 50,000 of the 530,000 registered voters in Cobb County voted, a turnout of 5 percent.

From the earliest returns of advance voters, “yes” votes never had less than 70 percent of the vote.

The “yes” votes claimed every single precinct in Cobb. Final precinct breakdowns are not yet available; East Cobb News will list them in a separate post later in the week.

Voters in East Cobb were galvanized the project list for the Cobb school district, which include a rebuild of the main Sprayberry High School building and classroom additions at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools in East Cobb.

Voters in Cobb’s six cities also chose city council members and mayors on Tuesday.

In Marietta, three-term incumbent Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin was re-elected after he defeated city council member Michelle Collins Kelly by 57-43 percent of the vote.

Kelly’s Ward 6 seat, which includes East Marietta, will be filled by Andre Sims, who was unopposed in the non-partisan election.

In Marietta school board races, Kerry Minervini, the incumbent in Ward 6 that includes East Marietta, was re-elected without opposition.

UPDATED, 11:30 PM:

With 95 percent of precincts reporting (138/145), yes votes are 34,257 (72%), no votes are 13,261 (28%) in the Cobb Education SPLOST.

Final figures to come Wednesday.

UPDATED, 11:15 PM:

With 77 percent of precincts fully reporting, yes has 29,441 votes (71.6 percent) to 11,662 no votes (28.4 percent).

UPDATED, 10:30 PM:

With 44 percent of the vote counted, yes leads SPLOST 20,093 to 7,965 voting no, 71.6-28.4.

UPDATED, 9:45 PM:

With 12 percent of the vote in, yes votes are 11,796 and no votes are 4,687, still a roughly 71-29 split.

UPDATED, 7:55 P.M.:

The initial returns from the Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum show “YES” votes leading with 71 percent of the vote (advanced votes).

Those voting in favor are 6,928 thus far, and voting against are 2,824.

ORIGINAL POST, 7:01 P.M.:

The polls have closed in Cobb County and the the counting has begun for the Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum and municipal elections.

Voters in Cobb County were asked whether to renew a one-percent sales tax for construction, maintenance and technology for the Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools.

Voters in Cobb’s six cities were deciding city council races, including a contested mayor’s race in Marietta. Marietta voters also were voting in school board elections.

Headlining the SPLOST VI project list for the Cobb school district include a rebuild of the main Sprayberry High School building and classroom additions at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools in East Cobb.

See the East Cobb News voters guide for more information.

Voters who were in line at the polls by 7 p.m. Tuesday were eligible to vote. Voters in eight precincts were able to vote beyond 7 p.m. due to various technical issues. They included the Hightower and Post Oak precincts in East Cobb, which were to close at 7:05 p.m.

Absentee ballots also were either mailed in or hand-delivered to the Cobb Elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday or dropped off at a designated location, including The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road).

Cobb Elections said nearly 13,000 people voted during the advance voting period the last two weeks, in-person and absentee voting combined.

East Cobb News will update this post all evening.

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Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum voters guide information

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Cobb Education SPLOST VI

 

UPDATED, TUESDAY, NOV. 2, 7:40 P.M.: The polls have closed. Follow real-time results by clicking here.

ORIGINAL POST:

All the early voting has been completed for the 2021 elections in Cobb County, which feature municipal races in the six cities in the county and a referendum on whether to extend a sales tax for public schools.

Those who will be voting on Tuesday will go to their assigned precinct (if you don’t know where it is, you can check here and get a sample ballot).

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and if you are in line when the polls close you will be able to vote.

UPDATE, TUESDAY, 1:03 P.M.: Eight precincts, including two in East Cobb, will be open past 7 p.m. due to technical issues at those polls.

Cobb Elections said that 10,104 people voted in two weeks of early voting across Cobb County, including 2,038 at The Art Place in Northeast Cobb.

That’s the second-highest figure for any early voting location, after the main Cobb Elections office. On Friday, 349 people voted at The Art Place.

Citizens living in unincorporated Cobb County will have only one item on their ballots (above): the Cobb Education SPLOST VI, a one-percent sales tax for school construction, maintenance and technology to be collected from 2024-2029.

The tax would collect $894 million for the Cobb County School District, (our summary story from May; full project notebook here).

The main projects in Cobb include a rebuild of the main Sprayberry High School building and classroom additions at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools.

Cobb voters haven’t rejected a school SPLOST since the first referendum in 1998, but Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale has been actively defending the sales tax and how the money has been distributed following criticism of school district finances.

In 2017, Cobb voters overwhelmingly approved the current SPLOST V referendum, with 73.8 percent voting yes.

Turnout has typically been light for the Ed-SPLOST. In 2017, only 7.7 of registered Cobb voters took part, with 25,019 voting yes and 8,902 voting no. Some of the highest turnout has been in East Cobb.

Voters in the cities of Acworth, Austell, Kennesaw, Powder Springs and Smyrna also will have the Cobb Ed-SPLOST VI question on their ballots pertaining to the Cobb school district, as well as their city council elections.

For voters in the City of Marietta, they’ll get a school sales tax referendum question on their ballots too, since Marietta City Schools would collect $71.5 million if it is approved.

Marietta voters also deciding school board and city council members in their respective wards, as well as a contested mayor’s race in non-partisan elections.

Incumbent Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin is seeking a fourth term, but is being challenged by Michelle Cooper Kelly, a city council member whose ward includes much of East Marietta.

As we noted earlier in the week, if you have an absentee ballot that hasn’t been mailed (and you shouldn’t, since it won’t get to the Cobb Elections office by the 7 p.m. Tuesday deadline), you’ll need to drop it off at a designated location.

There aren’t the outdoor dropboxes as there were in 2020; here’s a list of where and when you can do this.

Those absentee locations include the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday.

For questions and for more information, visit cobbcounty.org/elections email info@cobbelections.org, or call 770-528-2581.

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Cobb schools push SPLOST vote with World Series pitch

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Cobb schools SPLOST vote World Series

Bandwagon-jumping is nothing new with the success of a local sports team.

The Cobb County School District is urging citizens to vote to extend the Special-Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for schools by noting in a post that leads its website how schools have benefitted from having the Atlanta Braves in the county.

The Braves play their first World Series game at Truist Park on Friday against the Houston Astros—the final day of early voting for the Nov. 2 referendum, as it turns out—and the district is indulging in a special brand of cheerleading for the home team.

The proposed SPLOST VI, if approved by voters, would generate nearly $900 million from 2024-2029 for construction, maintenance and technology projects for both Cobb and Marietta schools.

Saying that “Cobb County will also win big due to the Braves’ success on the diamond,” the Cobb school district noted how out-of-town fans during the playoffs have already been boosting the local economy—and school SPLOST coffers by extension:

“Now, with worldwide attention focused on pro baseball’s most celebrated stage, Cobb County residents will once again benefit from outside money being spent locally, this time thanks to Astros fans. Every drink, snack, and souvenir purchased by every baseball fan at Truist will help fund education in Cobb County.

“Those 40,000+ fans won’t just be spending money at the park; they will also purchase many other items locally, like meals and gas, that help fund local businesses and services. The economic impact from the 2021 Braves will be felt long after the Commissioner’s Trophy is presented to the team. 

“The NLCS and the World Series are high-profile events that bring notice to Cobb County, but they also bring dollars and help to stimulate and prosper our local economy. While most don’t often think of the economic impact of sports at the local level, they are incredibly significant. While we cheer for our home team to end Atlanta’s 26-year World Series win drought, we can also cheer that our local schools are being helped by dollars from Houston fans.”

The post linked to related news stories and a special video the district produced to promote the SPLOST but didn’t break down any dollar figures.

The one-percent sales tax was first approved by Cobb voters in 1998, but some critics wonder why the Cobb and Marietta school districts wanted a referendum two years before the current SPLOST expires.

There’s been some political pushback, both in terms of how previous school SPLOST funding has been distributed, and against current Cobb school board spending practices.

That prompted a reaction from Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale, as well as from parents and citizens working to extend the sales tax, including those advocating for a rebuild of Sprayberry High School.

As the Braves swept to a 6-2 Game 1 victory over the Astros Tuesday night in Houston, the Cobb school district posted a similar SPLOST message on its social media channels.

The district also posted separately on the coming rebuild of Eastvalley Elementary School, which is to be relocated to the former site of East Cobb Middle School on Holt Road, among other SPLOST-related stories on the district’s homepage.

The Eastvalley project is to be funded with revenue from the current SPLOST V, but a timetable for construction hasn’t been announced. The former ECMS campus is slated to be demolished by December.

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Cobb 2021 elections advance voting continues through Friday

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Just a reminder that there’s one advance voting location in East Cobb for the 2021 elections—The Art Place, 3330 Sandy Plains Road—where you can cast your vote in Education SPLOST VI referendum. East Cobb advance voting

The advance voting hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and there isn’t going to be any voting until election day, Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Through Monday, Cobb Elections is reporting 6,018 people have voted in advance, including 1,169 at The Art Place.

If you elect to vote on Nov. 2, you’ll report to your usual election-day precinct, and Cobb Elections has sent along the following info for that, as well as for those dropping off absentee ballots:

  • For personalized precinct information, please visit My Voter Page. 

  • For information on voting by mail, visit the Absentee Voting page or call (770) 528-2581.

  • Absentee ballots may be dropped off in person to a limited number of locations though Saturday, Oct. 30, as well as Monday, Nov. 1, and Tuesday, Nov. 2. Click here for details.

Those absentee ballot drop-off locations include the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this week, including Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday.

For questions and for more information, visit cobbcounty.org/elections email info@cobbelections.org, or call 770-528-2581.

We’ll have more later in the week setting up the culmination of the 2021 elections, which include municipal elections in Cobb’s six cities, as well as school board races for Marietta City Schools.

The Cobb Ed-SPLOST VI, as we’ve noted before (our summary story from May; full project notebook here), would generate $894 million from 2024-2029 for school construction, maintenance and technology in the Cobb and Marietta school districts.

In Cobb, the big-ticket items are a rebuild of Sprayberry High School’s main campus buildings, as well as classroom additions at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools in East Cobb.

Cobb voters haven’t rejected a school SPLOST since the first referendum in 1998, but Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale has been actively defending the sales tax and how the money has been distributed following criticism of school district finances.

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Walton HS parent announces campaign for Cobb school board

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The mother of four children in the Walton High School cluster who pushed for the Cobb County School District to drop its mask mandate during the 2020-21 school year has declared her intent to run for the Cobb Board of Education.

Cobb Board of Education Post 6
CCSD map

Amy Henry, who moved with her family to East Cobb from DeKalb County in 2019, filed her declaration with the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration on Tuesday.

It says she is running as a Republican in Post 6, which includes most of the Walton and Wheeler clusters and part of the Campbell cluster.

That seat is currently held by first-term Democrat Charisse Davis, who has not announced whether she’s seeking re-election.

Henry was the leader of a group called “Let Parents Choose” (since renamed CCSD Parent Alliance) that pushed for in-person learning at the start of the 2020-21 school year.

That school year began with all-virtual learning after Superintendent Chris Ragsdale initially announced in-person classes, but switched due to high COVID-19 metrics.

Henry also spoke at school board meetings as a mask mandate continued in Cobb schools through the school year, urging the district go make masks optional. 

“They need to have a normal childhood,” Henry told the school board in March. “We’re teaching them that they’re dirty. We’re creating a fearful environment that for these kids cannot be normal.”

That was right before other Cobb school parents filed a lawsuit trying to overturn the mask mandate (Henry wasn’t one of them). The suit was dropped when Ragsdale said in May that masks would be optional for 2021-22.

When contacted by East Cobb News, Henry declined to comment on why she’s running and to state her priorities, saying she wanted to wait until she makes a formal announcement at the Cobb Republican Party breakfast on Nov. 6.

She’s also involved in the revived East Cobb Cityhood effort, and has listed as her campaign chair Cindy Cooperman, who handles publicity for the current Cityhood committee. 

Post 6 has traditionally been in Republican hands. In 2018, Davis, who lives in the Campbell cluster, edged two-term GOP board member Scott Sweeney, who is now the chairman of the state board of education (and also is part of the Cityhood group).

That seat is one of three up for grabs in 2022 elections, with the lines for those three posts expected to change.

Members of the Cobb legislative delegation will redraw Cobb Board of Education post boundaries after the first of the year, following Congressional and legislative reapportionment.

In Post 4 (Sprayberry and Kell clusters), three-term Republican incumbent David Chastain has said he is seeking re-election but hasn’t formally announced; the only announced Democrat is Kennesaw State University student Austin Heller (previous ECN story here).

Democrat Jaha Howard, a first-term board member from Post 2 (Campbell and Osborne clusters), recently announced his intent to run for state school superintendent.

Republicans hold a 4-3 majority on the school board. In 2020, three of the current GOP members won re-election to maintain that edge.

Davis and Howard have challenged their GOP colleagues on racial and equity initiatives and have questioned the Cobb school district’s COVID-19 protocols, often leading to contentious disputes at board meetings.

In 2019, the Republican majority passed a policy change to bar board members from making comments during public meetings, with Davis and Howard objecting, calling it censorship.

In late 2020, after the elections, the GOP members approved a policy change that allowed board members to add agenda items to public meetings only if a board majority approved.

At the October board meeting, and in a party-line vote, the Republicans approved a resolution condemning Antisemitism and racism that the Democrats said took them by surprise. Davis was absent from the meeting.

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Cobb Republican Party opposes East Cobb Church rezoning

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Political parties at the local level don’t often get involved in what are typically non-partisan issues, especially zoning cases.

But the Cobb Republican Party has come out in opposition to the North Point Ministries/East Cobb Church rezoning case, which is being heard again by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.Cobb Republican U.S. Senate rally

In a statement issued over the weekend on its Facebook page, the Cobb GOP said while it wasn’t against the church, the “density and intensity of this over-reaching zoning is a deal breaker.”

(UPDATE: This post appears to have been deleted or is not available to the general public. Here’s an archived version.)

Like much of the opposition that has formed against the proposed mixed-use project at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads, that’s a reference to the residential portion of the assembled 33 acres.

North Point last week submitted yet another site plan, and is now asking for 44 townhomes and 51 single-family detached homes.

“They are using flood plain in the density calculation to make it appear there are only 5.37 homes per acre, knowing there is already down stream flooding,” says the Cobb GOP message, which urges its followers to contact the two Republican commissioners, JoAnn Birrell and Keli Gambrill, in particular and tell them to vote no.

At the September zoning hearing, Democratic commissioner Jerica Richardson of District 2 asked to hold the case when traffic, density and stormwater issues were renewed. “Jerica needs one of their votes for this to pass as Chairwoman Cupid has recused herself,” the Cobb Republican message states.

In recent weeks, the Cobb Democratic Party has been holding forums about municipal elections in Cobb County, which are non-partisan. They’ve invited candidates running in Acworth and Kennesaw and the party has been canvassing for unspecified candidates in Marietta, where voting for city council and school board races is continuing through the Nov. 2 elections.

From a Sept. 30 social media message that was also repeated last week:

“All politics is local and it doesn’t get more local than City Council elections. Let’s build those true blue grassroots by electing some local officials that represent our values. Blue from the bottom-up.”

Otherwise, both local major political parties have stuck to internecine and boilerplate partisan matters.

The Cobb GOP passed a resolution censuring Gov. Brian Kemp, prompting the resignation of former chairman Jason Shepherd from the county committee. The Cobb Young Republicans then denounced the censure.

Cobb Democrats have been sounding off on the GOP-led Cobb Board of Education, most recently blistering chairman Randy Scamihorn for an anti-Semitism resolution passed without input from the three Democrats on the school board.

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Cobb superintendent defends Ed-SPLOST funding distribution

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Cobb Education SPLOST critics
A Cobb school district graphic shows how SPLOST funds have been distributed by school board post.

During a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday night, school superintendent Chris Ragsdale took issue with criticism of how Education SPLOST funds have been distributed across the county.

Early voting began Monday in a Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum that would extend the one-percent sales tax for school construction, maintenance and technology from 2024-28.

That extension, if approved, would provide nearly $900 million for the Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools.

The Education SPLOST (Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax) began in 1999 and has been extended by voters ever since. The current SPLOST V expires Dec. 31, 2023, and is expected to collect nearly $800 million.

At a SPLOST virtual town hall earlier this week held by the Mableton Improvement Coalition, there were complaints that some parts of Cobb County were being left behind in SPLOST funding.

“I truly do not understand how anyone in due conscience can propagate such a false narrative,” he said. “I need to present data to show a true and accurate picture of SPLOST. Some continue to push the idea that only certain schools or areas of Cobb get the majority of SPLOST funding.”

Ragsdale then showed a pie chart illustrating how SPLOST revenues from the first five sales tax collections have been distributed, according to school board post (above).

Although dollar figures were not provided, the chart showed that Post 2 (Smyrna/South Cobb), Post 1 (North/West Cobb), Post 6 (Part of East Cobb/Cumberland) and Post 3 (South Cobb/Mableton/Austell) have had the highest percentages.

The other two East Cobb-area posts, 4 and 5, and Post 7 (West Cobb/Powder Springs) had the lowest percentages, at around 10 percent each.

“Cobb has always provided SPLOST funds to the areas of greatest need,” Ragsdale said, reading from prepared remarks. “Those areas change over time. . . . When those needs change, that’s where the funding will be provided as well.”

Ragsdale did not respond to citizens who spoke earlier in the meeting that they were opposing SPLOST because they think the Cobb school district isn’t doing a good job handling the money.

Among the critics is Heather Tolley-Bauer, an East Cobb resident and a co-founder of Watching the Funds, a citizen watchdog group that’s been tracking Cobb school district finances since late last year.

The group (we profiled WTF in July) has been critical of district spending on COVID-19 safety measures, as well as the AlertPoint emergency system that has malfunctioned.

Her message was “No Accountability, No SPLOST.”

“In the past I’ve voted yes, but as a parent and an advocate for fiscal responsibility in our schools this year I will vote no,” Tolley-Bauer said during a public comment session. “And I am not alone.

“Because of the actions of this board, we have no confidence in you. . . . Why have you neglected your fiduciary responsibility to us?”

Later Thursday, the school district posted the pie chart on its Facebook page but faced more criticism from voters who made similar complaints.

Some wanted to know more details of how the district has been spending federal money designated for COVID-19 recovery, and the district linked to a Georgia Department of Education page with related information.

That didn’t satisfy some citizens, including one who wrote “Clean house, CCSD leadership and I, along with a large number, will happily vote for this 2024 SPLOST.”

Those responses have concerned parents who are advocating for SPLOST VI, which includes a rebuild of the main campus building at Sprayberry High School (full list of projects here).

They’re having a community meeting on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the school (2525 Sandy Plains Road) to go over the proposed rebuild, as well as newly approved projects for a new Sprayberry gym and renovations to the school’s career training facility.

Shane Spink, a leader of the Sprayberry rebuild effort, has continued to counter current criticisms by saying that the “Ed-SPLOST is not about the curriculum or school board policies. The Ed-SPLOST is not partisan. The project list for Cobb County School District reaches across party lines of the school boards and each and every Cobb County School gets improvements through this.”

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Family law attorney to run for Cobb Superior Court judge

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Daniele Johnson, Cobb Superior Court Judge candidate

Submitted information:

Daniele Johnson is running for Cobb County Superior Court Judge. Superior Court has exclusive jurisdiction over family law matters, including divorce, custody, legitimation, child support and  domestic violence. Daniele Johnson has practiced family law in Cobb County for the last 22 years. She is also a certified Guardian Ad Lite, meaning, she is trained to represent the best interests of children. 

Superior Court also has exclusive jurisdiction over felony crimes, such as homicide, sexual assault, and aggravated assault. Prior to beginning her family law career, Daniele Johnson served as a Deputy District Attorney in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There, she was lead prosecutor for misdemeanor crimes. She was also assigned to the Special Victims Unit, a team dedicated to prosecuting felony crimes committed against children. Prior to her time as a prosecutor, Daniele Johnson was court-certified to represent victims of domestic violence in their pursuit of restraining orders against their abusers. Daniele Johnson has dedicated her entire career practicing exactly the type of law the position of Cobb County Superior Court Judge calls for.  

To Daniele Johnson, serving on the bench is a natural extension of what she has been doing for the last 25 years, serving families and community. She is specifically seeking to succeed the Honorable Robert Flournoy who has decided to retire at the end of his term. She and her husband have been part of the Cobb Community since 1999 where they are raising their three children within the Cobb County School District. 

To learn more about Daniele Johnson and her professional accolades, visit her website at www.daniele4judge.com.

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Cobb Ed SPLOST headlines 2021 ballot; early voting to start

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Sprayberry High School, Cobb Education SPLOST

Cobb County voters can cast in-person ballots as soon as Tuesday as early voting starts for the 2021 elections, which culminate on Nov. 2.

Advance voting will conclude on Oct. 29 and will include two Saturdays, Oct. 16 and 23.

The only advance voting location in the East Cobb area is The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road); for more on locations, dates and times, click here.

While citizens in Cobb’s six cities will be voting in municipal elections, voters across the county will be asked if they want to extend the one-percent sales tax to fund construction, maintenance and technology projects for the Cobb County School District.

It’s called Cobb Education SPLOST VI, and it would raise $894 million from 2024-29 (our summary story from May; full project notebook here).

Among the major projects on the project list approved by the Cobb Board of Education is a reconstruction of the main Sprayberry High School classroom building. Also slated for new classroom additions are Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools in East Cobb.

Sprayberry rebuild supporters have been publicly advocating for several months for extending the SPLOST, noting that the 50-year-old building at Sandy Plains Road and Piedmont Road is wearing down while other high schools in the East Cobb area have had major renovations and rebuilds (Walton, Wheeler).

They’re holding an Oct. 19 open house to provide more information, where details of the new Sprayberry gymnasium and CTAE facility also will be available.

“We’re excited about being on [the ballot],” Sprayberry parent Shane Spink said.

In recent weeks some citizens have expressed concerns about renewing the SPLOST amid turbulence on the Cobb Board of Education. A reader wrote on the East Cobb News Facebook page this week saying that’s why she’s voting against a SPLOST for the first time.

“I have little confidence in some of the current Cobb County School District Board members and its Superintendent,” Melissa O’Brien wrote. “In a year and a half full of COVID-related chaos, one would expect the 25th largest school district in the country to step up to the challenge.”

She said she thinks the Cobb school district hasn’t wisely spent federal CARES Act funding and implemented stronger COVID-19 safety protocols, and was upset at board member David Banks sending an e-mail from his official address discouraging the vaccines.

Spink said he understands the concerns but said the SPLOST isn’t a partisan issue and has broad countywide impact.

“Every school benefits from this,” he said. “We shouldn’t be cutting off our noses to spite our faces. This is about our kids, the teachers and our community.”

As we noted previously, you can request an absentee ballot just as you did last year; the deadline for that is Oct. 22; absentee ballots will start going out in the mail on Monday for those who’ve already signed up.

Cobb Elections must receive your absentee ballot by 7 p.m. on Nov. 2, election day, either by mail or at an early voting location during voting hours. There won’t be the outdoor dropboxes that were available in 2020.

Voters who elect to go to the polls on Nov. 2 will cast ballots at their normal precincts between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

For questions and for more information, visit cobbcounty.org/elections email info@cobbelections.org, or call 770-528-2581.

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Cobb school board member to run for state school superintendent

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First-term Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard has filed paperwork run for Georgia Superintendent of Schools in 2022.Cobb school board COVID safety letter

Howard, a Democrat from Post 2 (Campbell and Osborne clusters) registered his campaign committee with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission on Sunday.

In late June, he filed a Declaration of Intent form with the same agency but didn’t specify which office he was seeking.

Official qualifying begins early next year for the May 2022 primaries.

A pediatric dentist from Vinings, Howard has been a controversial figure in his nearly three-year tenure on the school board, pressing for action on racial and diversity issues and challenging the Cobb County School District’s COVID-19 policies.

When he attempted to question Superintendent Chris Ragsdale about those protocols at the September board meeting, he was cut off by chairman Randy Scamihorn.

He and fellow board Democrats Charisse Davis and Tre’ Hutchins then walked out of the meeting room in protest.

That was the latest of several instances of party conflict on the Cobb school board since 2019.

Earlier this year, the three Democrats requested a special review by Cognia, the Cobb school district’s accrediting agency, that is expected to be released soon.

Howard is one of three school board members up for re-election in 2022.

Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters in Post 6, has not announced whether she’s seeking a second term.

Also in East Cobb’s Post 4, Republican David Chastain has said he will be running again. Kennesaw State University student Austin Heller is an announced candidate as a Democrat for that post, which includes the Kell and Sprayberry clusters.

No candidates have yet announced for Post 2. That was one of two school board seats that swung from GOP to Democrat in 2018 (along with Post 6), reducing Republican majority to 4-3.

Howard unsuccessfully ran in a special election for a State Senate seat in 2017, losing to Jen Jordan. She has announced she’s running for Georgia Attorney General next year.

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Ga. Senate GOP leaders release Congressional district map draft

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Ga. Senate GOP Congressional district draft map
You can view the proposed map in full by clicking here.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and state Senate Reapportionment Committee Chairman John Kennedy on Monday released a draft map of proposed Congressional districts based on 2020 Census figures.

As anticipated, the lines for the 6th Congressional District—a swing seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath—would be moved substantially.

The proposed new lines for the 6th still include most of East Cobb, which has remained a relative Republican stronghold, as well as North Fulton and Sandy Springs.

But the GOP leaders have created a new map taking away more Democratic terrain of north and central DeKalb and would include all of Forsyth County, a strong GOP area with a growing population.

Based on the proposed map, it’s hard to tell how much of East Cobb has been removed from the 6th District and placed in the adjoining 11th because it doesn’t get down to census tract details.

An independent site, called Dave’s Redistricting App, has a zoom feature better showing the proposed lines that would take out some East Cobb precincts closer to the city of Marietta that have been trending Democratic in recent elections.

We’ve included a screen shot at the bottom of this post to show that in more detail; essentially the line runs below the Ashebrooke and above the Crossgate subdivision and bisects Indian Hills.

The area around Wheeler High School and extending to the Atlanta Country Club and below River Hills would be included in the 11th District seat currently held by Republican Barry Loudermilk.

The reapportionment process begins on Nov. 3 in a special session called by Gov. Brian Kemp to redraw Congressional, legislative and local elected districts.

Here’s what Georgia’s current Congressional districts look like now, per the Census Bureau; inset metro Atlanta photo is below.

Ga. 117th Congress maps
View the current Georgia statewide map in the 117th Congress by clicking here.

Republicans hold sizable majorities in the House and the Senate. In the U.S. House, there are eight Republicans and six Democrats from Georgia, including McBath.

The Democrats have a 224-214 edge in the 117th Congress (with three vacant seats) and McBath’s re-election in 2022 is considered crucial for their chances of maintaining party control.

McBath ended 40-year GOP control of the 6th District when she unseated former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel in 2018, then defeated Handel in a rematch in 2020. Several Republicans have announced they will be running in 2022, but no other Democrats have announced.

The proposed GOP Congressional map, if approved, would likely solidify the 7th District for a Democrat. That’s currently held by Carolyn Boudreaux, who won in 2020 by a slim margin. The draft map would take a portion of Forsyth County currently in that district and reshape the 7th to include most of Gwinnett County.

Cobb County has two other members of Congress, Loudermilk, whose 11th District currentlly includes Marietta, Smyrna-Vinings and Northwest Cobb.

Democrat David Scott represents District 13 that includes most of South Cobb.

Some areas of East Cobb currently in the 6th District would be in the 11th in the proposed GOP map. For more details, click here.

The maps proposed by Duncan and Kennedy would not alter those areas by much.

Nor would the proposed map changes affect the lines in the 14th Congressional District, where Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, has gained national attention since her win in 2020.

She was briefly a candidate in the 6th before switching to the 14th, which is considered the most conservative Congressional district in the state, and includes Paulding County. The new lines would take in some of Bartow County and retain most of northwest Georgia.

“It is clear that this map not only meets principles of redistricting, but we are proud to present a map that regardless of political party, Georgians can be proud of,” Duncan said in a statement “Ensuring that any maps we produce are fair, compact, and keep communities of interest together, will continue to be of upmost importance.”

In response, the Democratic Party of Georgia posted on its social media channels a Gwinnett Daily Post op-ed by State Rep. Sam Park calling for a “fair” redistricting process that includes “establishing [reapportionment] committee guidelines in a public forum” before the special session begins.

Several voting advocacy groups placed the piece, including Progress Georgia, All on the Line, Fair Districts GA and the ACLU of Georgia.

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