East Cobb Politics & Elections Archives

East Cobb Election Results: Democrats lead county races

November 4, 2020 2:03 PMNovember 3, 2020 7:01 PM by Wendy Parker

UPDATED, 2 P.M. WEDNESDAY

Democrats sweep county races; Commission District 2 race too close to call

UPDATED, 12:30 A.M. WEDNESDAY

This will be the final update of the evening; we’ll have more coverage later Wednesday as final absentee and provisional ballots are still to be counted.

East Cobb News also will be sending out a special election newsletter on Wednesday. If you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to sign up, please click here.

Live election night reporting

Related coverage

East Cobb Elections Guide

Party control of the Cobb Board of Commissioners could be switching over to Democrats.

Shortly after midnight, Democrat Jerica Richardson held a 109-vote lead over Republican Fitz Johnson, 33,971-33,862.

But with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, she now holds a lead of 41,169 to 37,951, with absentee and other late ballots still to be counted.

They’re seeking to succeed retiring Republican commissioner Bob Ott.

Commissioner Lisa Cupid appears headed to victory over Republican incumbent Mike Boyce for Cobb Commission Chair.

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Cupid has 171,074 votes to 156,005, or 52-47 percent.

Cupid would be the first Democrat to hold that position since Ernest Barrett in 1984.

Republicans currently have a 4-1 advantage on the commission, with Cupid the only Democrat. Her successor in District 4 in South Cobb, Monique Sheffield, is a Democrat.

Control of the Cobb Board of Education also was on the line.

Republican incumbent David Banks has 23,672 votes in the Post 5 race in East Cobb (Pope and Lassiter clusters), while Democrat Julia Hurtado had 21,634 votes with 100 percent of the precincts reporting.

Two other Republican incumbents also were seeking re-election. Randy Scamihorn appears headed to victory, and current chairman Brad Wheeler had trailed his Democratic challenger by less than 200 votes.

But he took a lead of less than 2,000 votes early Wednesday.

Going into the elections, Republican held a 4-3 majority on the school board.

Another race that’s too close to call is the State House District 43 race in East Cobb. Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper had trailed Democrat Luisa Wakeman by five votes, 9,679, to 9,674.

Wakeman has stretched her lead, and has 10,417 votes to 9,995 for Cooper.

All other East Cobb legislative incumbents were leading their races early Wednesday, after trailing before election-day votes came in.

Vote-counting is still going on in other metro Atlanta counties, so statewide races, some Congressional races and and the presidential race still haven’t been determined.

President Donald Trump leads Joe Biden 53-42 in Georgia, although Biden leads in Cobb 55-42 percent.

U.S. Sen David Perdue leads Democrat Jon Ossoff 52-45 percent.

The U.S. Senate seat that’s in a jungle primary appears headed for a runoff. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler has 27 percent and Democrat Raphael Warnock has 29 percent.

Republican Congressman Doug Collins, who has 23 percent, has conceded and has offered his support to Loeffler. The runoff will be on Jan. 5, 2021, and the winner will fill the remaining two years of Johnny Isakson’s term.

U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat, looks to have won re-election over Republican Karen Handel, whom she beat in 2018, in the 6th Congressional District race.

McBath led 54-45 percent with 50 percent of the precincts reporting, as votes from Fulton and DeKalb counties still hadn’t been counted.

Longtime Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren appeared headed for defeat by Democrat Craig Owens, a former officer in the Cobb Police Department.

Joyette Holmes, a Republican appointed Cobb District Attorney last year, also was trailing by 3,699 votes to Democrat Flynn Broady, an assistant Cobb solicitor.

The Cobb SPLOST was resoundingly renewed by voters, with “yes” votes totaling 66 percent.

All the results are unofficial pending certification by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration.

UPDATED, 11:30 P.M.

With 80 percent of Cobb precincts reporting, Democratic commissioner Lisa Cupid leads Republican incumbent Mike Boyce in the Cobb Commission chair’s race 52-48 percent, by around 11,400 votes.

The District 2 race for Cobb Board of Commissioners is a virtual dead heat, also with 80 percent of precincts reporting.

Democrat Jerica Richardson’s lead has been reduced to 674 votes, or 50.5 percent to 49.4 percent, over Republican Fitz Johnson.

She has 32,856 votes to 32,182 for Johnson. With late absentee ballots still to be counted, this race may not be determined until Wednesday at the earliest.

In the Post 5 race for Cobb Board of Education, Republican incumbent David Banks has a 52-48 percent lead over Democrat Julia Hurtado.

Banks has 23,399 votes to 21,509 for Hurtado. Two other school board Republican incumbents have bigger leads over Democratic challengers, so the GOP’s 4-3 majority on the school board for now looks like it will remain.

Another close race in East Cobb is in State House District 43. Republican Rep. Sharon Cooper, who has trailed all evening, is 210 points behind Democrat Luisa Wakeman, 9,488-9,288.

Republican Sen. David Perdue was leading Democrat Jon Ossoff 54-43 percent, with metro Atlanta counties still to report.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath continues to lead Karen Handel in the 6th Congressional District race 54-45 percent.

President Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in Georgia’s presidential voting by 54-45, although again metro Atlanta counties have not yet reported.

UPDATED, 10:30 P.M.

With nearly half of all Cobb precincts reporting, some of the key races we’re looking at are starting to tighten.

Democratic commissioner Lisa Cupid leads Republican incumbent Mike Boyce in the Cobb Commission chair’s race, but her margin has been reduced to 53-46 percent, or a 14,000-vote lead, with 51 percent of precincts reporting.

In Cobb Commission District 2, Democrat Jerica Richardson’s lead over Republican Fitz Johnson also has been cut. With 51 percent reporting, she’s up by less than 3,000 votes, or 52.-47 percent.

The Cobb Board of Education Post 5 race also has closed. Republican incumbent David Banks has gone ahead of Democrat Julia Hurtado by less than 400 votes, or 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent, with 55 percent of precincts reporting.

Democrats lead Republican incumbents in the Sheriff and District Attorney’s race, but those margins are getting smaller as more election-day results come in. Both races have 51 percent of precincts reporting.

Democrat Flynn Broady leads Republican incumbent Joyette Holmes only by 51-48 percent, or less than 6,000 votes, for District Attorney. Longtime Republican sheriff Neil Warren trails Democrat Craig Owens 55-44 percent.

In East Cobb legislative races, Republican State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick is pulling away from Democrat Christine Triebsch 54-45 percent in District 32.

Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper is closing on Democrat Luisa Wakeman, who leads 51-47 percent in District 43.

Two other East Cobb Republican incumbents, State Rep. Matt Dollar of District 45 and Don Parsons of District 44, have pulled ahead of their Democratic foes.

Republican State Rep. John Carson of District 46 is cruising to re-election, leading Democrat Caroline Holko 61-39 percent.

Democratic State Rep. Mary Frances Williams continues to hold a solid lead over Republican Rose Wing, 55-44 percent, in District 37.

East Cobb News will be sending out a special election newsletter on Wednesday. If you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to sign up, please click here.

UPDATED, 9:05 P.M.

Election-day results are starting to trickle in, and a combination of early and absentee ballots have Democrats in the lead in a number of races.

You can follow real-time updates at the links below.

Lisa Cupid has 58 percent of that vote in the Cobb Commission Chair race, with incumbent chairman Mike Boyce at 42 percent.

In Cobb Commission District 2, Democrat Jerica Richardson leads Republican Fitz Johnson 55-44 percent, and in Cobb Board of Education Post 5, Democrat Julia Hurtado is ahead of Republican incumbent David Banks 56-44 percent.

Similar trends are playing out in countywide races for Sheriff, District Attorney and Superior Court Clerk, as Republican incumbents are trailing their Democratic challengers for now.

Likewise in the state legislative seats in East Cobb, where the only Republican incumbent, State Rep. John Carson of District 46, has a lead at this stage.

Across Georgia, 43 of 159 counties have reported, many of them in rural parts of Georgia where Republicans are strong.

President Donald Trump leads Joe Biden 57-42 percent, and U.S. Sen. David Perdue leads Jon Ossoff 57-40 percent.

In the other U.S. Senate race, a jungle primary has Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler surging ahead of Democrat Raphael Warnock, 29-27 percent, and Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins has 24 percent.

In the 6th Congressional race, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath leads her predecessor, Republican Karen Handel, 60-39 percent.

But again, full metro Atlanta returns are a long way from being reported.

ORIGINAL POST, 7:01 P.M.

The polls have closed in Georgia, and the counting has begun for the 2020 general election.

Voters who were in line by 7 p.m. Tuesday will be able to vote. Voters in the Sope Creek 2 precinct in East Cobb who were in line by 7:20 p.m. also will be able to vote.

A judge approved a time extension Tuesday afternoon at that polling station at Sope Creek Elementary School because the poll manager arrived 20 minutes late this morning.

Absentee ballots that were left in the 16 designated drop boxes in Cobb County also were collected at 7 p.m.

East Cobb News will continuously update this post all evening with results from local, state and federal races.

Early voting results have been posted, and in Cobb they generally show Democrats with the lead at all levels—federal, state and local.

Some polling stations in Cobb had lines when the polls opened at 7 a.m., but otherwise, there were few lines and little waiting at the county’s 145 precincts.

Cobb Elections said 58 percent of the county’s roughly 540,000 registered voters cast absentee ballots or voted during the early-voting period.

Voters were selecting seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners (chairman and District 2), three Cobb Board of Education seats (including Post 5 in East Cobb), all state legislative seats, both U.S. Senate seats, the 6th Congressional District and president.

Countywide races for Sheriff and District Attorney are also on the ballot, as is a 6-year renewal of the Cobb Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

Typically early voting and absentee figures are tallied first, followed by same-day voting results and more recent absentee votes.

Earlier absentee ballots are expected to be counted rather quickly, as they have been processed to prepare for tabulation when the polls close.

While we await full we’ll results, we’ll post early voting and absentee figures as they are revealed.

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!

East Cobb Election Day 2020: Voting info, candidates and more

November 2, 2020 6:59 PMNovember 2, 2020 5:18 PM by Wendy Parker

Editor's Note voting and citizenship

On Tuesday voters will be going to the polls in the 2020 General Election that’s already seen record turnout for early and absentee balloting in Cobb County and Georgia.

This East Cobb Election Day post rounds up everything we’ve put together before you head to your precinct—if you haven’t already voted.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at all precincts.

If you have an absentee ballot, that must be dropped off at a designated drop box location by 7 p.m. It’s too late to put it in the mail, because all ballots have to be received by Cobb Elections by 7 p.m. in order to be counted (more info about this below).

EAST COBB ELECTIONS GUIDE

Candidate profiles, where to vote and more

For voters in East Cobb, there’s a full slate of competitive races at every level—local, state and federal.

Georgia and Cobb have become battlegrounds in the presidential sweepstakes, and candidates in both U.S. Senate races have been heavily courting voters in the county.

Cobb Elections said 174,379 people voted during the three-week early voting period that ended Friday, and it has received 135,633 of 181,861 absentee ballots requested.

That’s an estimated 58 percent of Cobb’s registered voters who have already cast their ballots.

Democrats cut into East Cobb’s Republican stronghold in 2018 and are vying for more, including possible control of the Cobb Board of Commissioners and the Cobb Board of Education.

Republican Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce is seeking a second term against commissioner Lisa Cupid of South Cobb. She could become the first female and African-American to head the county government, as well as the first Democrat since Ernest Barrett in 1984.

In the race to succeed retiring District 2 commissioner Bob Ott, Republican Fitz Johnson and Democrat Jerica Richardson are both seeking their first stint in public office.

Another political newcomer, Democrat Julia Hurtado, is challenging three-term Republican school board member David Banks in Post 5, which includes the Pope and Lassiter clusters.

Legislative races in East Cobb that previously had little competition will be contested everywhere, including some rematches from 2018.

Republican State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick is facing Democratic attorney Christine Triebsch for the third time in four years in District 32.

Democrats need to flip 16 seats in the House to gain control, and one of the most closely-watched races is in District 43. Longtime Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper is facing Democrat Luisa Wakeman, who nearly beat her two years ago.

In the District 45 race, Republican State Rep. Matt Dollar, the sponsor of an East Cobb cityhood bill last year, is facing first-time candidate Sara Tindall Ghazal, a former voter protection director for the Georgia Democratic Party.

Two Republican and one Democratic state house incumbents in Northeast Cobb also have opposition.

Another 2018 rematch is in store in the 6th Congressional District, where Republican Karen Handel is trying to regain the seat she lost to Democrat Lucy McBath.

Cobb voters also will be voting in countywide races for sheriff and district attorney and will be deciding on whether to renew the Cobb SPLOST, starting in 2022.

CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION

Georgia Secretary of State website

WHERE TO VOTE

Precinct list | Precinct changes

ABSENTEE BALLOT DROP BOXES

16 locations, including 4 in East Cobb

GOING TO THE POLLS

Since the 2018 election, a number of precinct changes have been made as Cobb Elections is gradually moving away from schools.

Here’s a list of precinct changes since last year. Most recently, the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) was designated the polling station for the Powers Ferry 1 precinct. The Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road) is the venue for the Simpson 1 precinct.

They’re among five Cobb library branches that will be closed all day Tuesday to serve as precincts.

On Friday, Cobb Elections said that the Elizabeth 5 polling station at Sandy Plains Baptist Church would be unavailable due to damage from Hurricane Zeta. Voters in that precinct should go to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (2922 Sandy Plains Road), which is also the Sandy Plains 1 precinct.

If you’re going to your precinct on Tuesday, Cobb Elections is asking you to remember four things before you come:

Check your polling location at the “My Voter Page” at the Georgia Secretary of State website;
Bring a photo ID;
If you received an absentee ballot but want to vote in person, bring the absentee ballot. It must be cancelled before you can vote at the polls;
Voters must wear masks and should expect socially-distant lines.

If you’re voting in the morning, you may want to bundle up. Tuesday’s expected to be bright and sunny, but temperatures will be in the high 30s when the polls open. It’ll get warmer, into the mid-50s around noon, and then rise to the low 60s by mid-afternoon.

If you are in line by 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote.

If you’re dropping off an absentee ballot, here are the locations. In East Cobb, they’re located at the following:

East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road)
Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road)
Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road)
Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive)

Remember: Absentee ballots must be dropped off by 7 p.m., when the polls close. All but the Gritters Library are being used as precincts, so expect traffic bottlenecks.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has created an absentee ballot tracker that lets you follow the status of your absentee ballot after you have returned it.

FOLLOW ELECTION COVERAGE

East Cobb News will provide continuing coverage all day and evening on Tuesday, as well as the rest of the week, given the high turnout and time needed to count absentee ballots.

If you have questions about voting, or photos or impressions to share of your experience at the polls, let us know: editor@eastcobbnews.com.

We’ll also be sending out a special election newsletter on Wednesday. If you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to sign up, click the link below.

We’ll have much more detailed coverage in our Sunday edition of the 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!

Editor’s Note: After voting comes the hard work of citizenship

October 31, 2020 7:02 PMOctober 31, 2020 6:20 PM by Wendy Parker

Editor's Note voting and citizenship — *The last day of early voting in East Cobb was like the first day—featuring long lines. (ECN photos)*

The deluge is almost over.

The inane commercials—a candidate is being demonized because as a defense attorney he represents criminals!

The race-horse punditry of polls, soundbites, “October surprises” and dubious partisan narratives as deep (and dreary) as battlefield trenches.

The mailboxes stuffed with flyers, a constant flurry of text messages, e-mails (some with emojis!), phone calls and knocks on doors, soliciting, above all, whatever donation amount you can afford!

The sledgehammer assault and sensory overload that’s been waged upon the citizenry for months now just to vote has been unprecedented.

GOP signs 10.31.20 — *Republicans wave at motorists to honk support at Shallowford and Sandy Plains Road Saturday.*

By party hacks and campaign toadies, democracy mavens and corporate virtue-signalers, celebrities, athletes, famous people and everyday folk who need you to vote a certain way so they can have health care, a job, the right to vote and their lives back from sinister forces that have conspired against them for far too long.

Companies, sports teams, non-profits and other institutions will be taking off all of election day to exercise their franchise on Tuesday. And they’ll let you know ceaselessly, especially on their social media feeds.

If you believe the overheated rhetoric, in just a few days’ time we will be conducting the most important election of our lifetime!

By my count, this has been the case for at least the last 20 years, when a bitter presidential election was determined by a single vote in the U.S. Supreme Court—after a farcical episode of butterfly ballots and hanging chads in Florida.

Another epic—and ridiculously expensive—presidential campaign is commanding much of the oxygen this fall, with two aging boomers striving to goad outdated and increasingly polarized party bases to turn out like never before.

*Yard signs for local Democratic candidates in an East Cobb neighborhood.*

For the vast majority of us who don’t fall into either tribalized camp, this feels like the most dispiriting election of our lifetime.

We’ve been ready for this to be over for months, and not because we don’t think elections are important.

They are. But what comes after them is even more important.

Whether you’ve already voted or will do so on Tuesday, exercising your franchise is the easiest part of citizenship. It’s purely transactional, with no further commitment to follow the exploits of those elected to serve us.

Nearly 60 percent of Cobb’s nearly 540,000 registered voters have already cast their ballots, and it’s roughly 50-50 between those voting in person and those mailing in or dropping off absentee ballots.

Two U.S. Senate races in Georgia, a battleground election in the 6th Congressional District and several high-priority legislative races in East Cobb are driving the turnout as much as the presidential race.

So are vigorous races for seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and the Cobb Board of Education that could result in Democrats taking control of both.

In East Cobb, where Republicans have dominated for decades, Democrats are contesting everything, including races where GOP incumbents rarely had to worry about any kind of a challenge.

Whatever your politics may be, it’s good to see more candidates running in either major party, especially those who have never sought elective office, and who are younger and represent an upcoming generation pining to make a difference.

*The State House District 43 race in East Cobb is one of the most expensive legislative campaigns in the state this year.*

What happens here at home—in the Georgia legislature, the halls of Cobb County government and on the increasingly fractious Cobb school board—has never mattered more.

As the last eight months have shown, decisions by state and local elected officials or appointed leaders serving at their pleasure have affected every single aspect of life for every single citizen.

The response to COVID-19 in Georgia and Cobb County will last for many months, if not years, to come.

Whatever you think of how the pandemic has been handled, keep in mind that all of these decisions—to force businesses and schools to close or go online, restrict public gatherings, curtail civil liberties and deprive us of many of the activities that make life worth living—were done without any public discussion, votes by elected bodies or the consent of the governed.

*The landslide winner in this year’s batch of canned political flyer photos—front-line medical workers.*

In Georgia, as in every other state and many nations of the world, once a public health emergency was declared, decisions affecting nearly every single aspect of society were made outside of the usual democratic channels, heavily based on guidance by unelected public health advisers.

This cannot and should not continue indefinitely. There need to be specific goals and objectives that are made clear to citizens, not continuously extended emergency declarations.

It’s incumbent upon governors, mayors, county officials and school superintendents to weigh the cost-benefit factors of a COVID response that considers the economy, education, and social well-being of all citizens as well as public health.

If you haven’t yet voted, think about whom you would trust to make these decisions in the future. Regardless of how you voted—or didn’t—the most serious obligation all citizens have is to hold these leaders to account.

*The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee demonstrates a perverse method of getting people to vote.*

Even if you’re politically homeless like I am—my first vote for president was the Republican Congressman-turned-independent John Anderson in 1980—the supposed perils of not voting are being used to humiliate you publicly.

Among the most noxious items in this year’s political mailbag was not one, but two flyers from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, reminding me that I didn’t vote in 2018.

I’m not embarrassed by that, but this is a particularly slimy way to shame people into voting: Mailing you a flyer anyone can read and assigning you a “voter score” that is “average” and won’t cut it in their minds. As though any voter has an obligation to meet the muster of a partisan political action committee that sent an unsolicited mailing.

The second flyer was even more galling, saying that in order “to improve your voting record” I must vote. “Remember: Who you vote for is private, but whether you vote is public record.”

This from a political party that has made “voter protection” a major part of its agenda.

If I hadn’t voted before I got these flyers, I would have made sure that anybody I did vote for would work to change laws like this. Whether or not you vote ought to be nobody else’s damn business any more than whom you voted for—or against.

Such are the stakes of an election that’s gone on seemingly forever, and may last well after election day.

Many of those hopelessly, shamelessly obsessed with getting you to vote will soon skunk away, at least until the next election. Those of us more concerned with what those elected to office will do with their power have never had a more daunting task.

Northeast Cobb legislative incumbents face election challenges

November 10, 2020 7:19 PMOctober 31, 2020 11:42 AM by Wendy Parker

Two established members of the Georgia House Republican leadership and a Democrat who unseated a GOP incumbent two years ago are all facing opponents in the Nov. 3 general election.

The latter is first-term State Rep. Mary Frances Williams, of the 37th District, who is facing Rose Wing, the former head of the Cobb Republican Party.

In 2018 Williams upended Rep. Sam Teasley in a tight race, then withstood a recount to break an all-Republican roster of state representatives with East Cobb constituencies.

Wing, who was defeated as Cobb GOP president after the 2016 elections, is making her first run for public office.

Both candidates are residents of the city of Marietta, which makes up most of the district. It includes an area of East Cobb along Piedmont and East Piedmont roads, down to Barnes Mill Road and east of Interstate 75 (map here).

Candidate websites: Williams | Wing

During her first term, Williams sponsored legislation requiring the release of audio and video law enforcement body camera recordings and supports repealing “Stand Your Ground” laws.

A former lobbyist for education and children’s issues, Williams said the state’s response to COVID-19 is her top priority, and she supports Medicaid expansion and measures to curb surprise medical billing.

Wing, a retired former prosecutor in the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, said she wants to promote conservative values, especially keeping taxes low to spur business and economic growth and to “protect an environment for local businesses to succeed.”

The daughter of a teacher, Wing also said her priorities include COVID response and strengthening public education and public safety.

State House District 44

First elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1994, State Rep. Don Parsons has a Democratic opponent for the second consecutive election.

The district stretches from Wade Green Road to Hembree Road (map here).

Parsons, a Republican, is chairman of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee and also serves on the Appropriations and Ways & Means committees.

Parsons is touting that experience, along with what he said is his commitment to fiscal responsibility, including tax cuts. He also voted for Hate Crimes legislation the last two years

He supported a bill that would extend hate-crime protections for police officers and other enforcement personnel who are threatened, harassed or intimidated because they are first responders. That bill was signed by the governor and becomes law next year.

Campaign websites: DiCicco | Parsons

Running against Parsons is Connie DiCicco, a former chief of staff for Mary Frances Williams.

A parent in the Addison Elementary School area, she said her priorities include improving health care access, including Medicaid expansion, better funding for public education, environmental justice and protecting voting rights.

DiCicco also supports “common sense” reforms to encourage gun safety and while she advocated the main Hate Crimes bill that passed last session, she said “Georgia still has a long way to go to end systemic racism in our justice system.”

State House District 46

Since winning a special election in 2011, State Rep. John Carson has risen quicky in the ranks of House Republican leadership.

District 44 includes the northeast corner of Cobb and part of southern Cherokee County (map here).

He’s vice chairman of the Transportation, Ways & Means and Energy, Utility and Telecommunications subcommittees.

A certified public accountant, Carson stresses a platform with low taxes, including eliminating state corporate income taxes, and he opposes Obamacare.

He has voted for a public school teacher pay raise but also has sponsored legislation to allow for a tax credit for private school tuition.

Candidate websites: Carson | Holko

His Democratic opponent is Caroline Holko, who got 48 percent of the vote against District 3 incumbent Joann Birrell in a run for the Cobb Board of Commissioners in 2018.

Her priorities are Medicaid expansion, voter protection, what she calls reproductive and environmental justice, full funding of public education and legalizing cannabis in Georgia.

Holko, who is a supporter of unabashed liberal causes, has had to explain during her campaign using a racial slur a decade ago in a blog post about black males and crime.

In September, on her campaign blog, she wrote that that 2009 blog post “was written in ignorance and anger” and that “my position has drastically changed since then.”

Nearly half of registered Cobb County voters have cast ballots

October 28, 2020 1:43 PM by Wendy Parker

From the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, with numbers through Tuesday: cobb advance voting, Cobb voter registration deadline, Walton and Dickerson PTSA candidates forum

So far, 265,540 of Cobb County’s 537,565 registered voters have already turned out to vote early, representing 49% of the total registered votes in the county. This significant early turnout number tracks with the record turnout seen across Georgia and throughout the country.

Of the 265,540 ballots cast in Cobb County so far, 123,498 absentee by mail ballots have been returned by mail or through the more than 200 absentee ballot dropboxes that have been installed across the state. The drop boxes were first allowed following a rule passed by the State Election Board, which is chaired by Secretary Raffensperger, earlier this year at the request of county elections officials.

Much of the surge in early voting has come from record early, in-person voting. In Cobb County so far, 142,042 voters have cast ballots early, in-person.

Early voting continues through 7 p.m. Wednesday and on Thursday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

You can check wait times at early voting places by clicking here; voters can return absentee ballots 24/7 until 7 p.m. election day at any of 16 absentee ballot drop boxes, including locations at the Mountain View, Sewell Mill and Gritters libraries and the East Cobb Government Service Center.

Five Cobb library branches to be closed on Election Day

October 26, 2020 1:45 PM by Wendy Parker

Mountain View Regional Library

The Mountain View Regional Library and the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center in East Cobb will be closed on election day because they’re being used as voting precincts.

They’re among the five library branches that will be used for that purpose, according to the Cobb County Public Library System.

The others are the South Cobb, West Cobb, and Vinings libraries. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, Nov. 3. These libraries will reopen 10 a.m. November 4.

The Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road) will serve as the polling station for the Simpson 01 precinct.

The Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road) is the polling station for the Powers Ferry 01 precinct.

Those precincts formerly had been at schools, and the moves are part of a continuing effort by Cobb Elections to relocate polling stations away from schools, mostly for security reasons.

Earlier this year the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved several precinct changes along those lines, including moves away from Dickerson and Dodgen middle schools in East Cobb.

A full list of precinct names and addresses can be found here. That’s where all voters casting their ballots in person will go next Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Voters can check assigned precinct locations and view specific sample ballots at Georgia’s My Voter Page site at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov.

Early voting continues this week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road).

There is no early voting this Saturday or next Monday, Nov. 2.

Cobb GIS has created an estimated wait-time map at each of the early voting locations in the county.

The link to the map can be found here; if you click the information icon in the upper-right corner you’ll find a color-coded legend explaining the wait-times and other information.

Through Saturday Cobb Elections said 115,948 Cobb voters have voted early in-person, and 106,683 out of 180,242 requested absentee ballots have been returned.

Voters can return absentee ballots 24/7 until 7 p.m. election day at any of 16 absentee ballot drop boxes, including locations at the Mountain View and Sewell Mill libraries, the East Cobb government center and Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive).

Cobb school board virtual candidates forum takes place Thursday

October 25, 2020 12:58 PM by Wendy Parker

The East Cobb County Council PTA and the South Cobb Council PTA organizations are holding a Cobb Board of Education candidates forum Thursday and are inviting the public to submit questions.

The deadline for doing so is 12 p.m. Monday, and questions should be submitted via e-mail to president@ecccpta.org AND southcobbcouncil@gmail.com.

Candidates for all four school board posts on this year’s ballot have been invited to participate in the forum, which lasts from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Members of both PTA organizations will be moderating the event, along with high school students.

Post 5 candidate profiles

David Banks | Julia Hurtado

More elections news

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!

Cobb absentee ballot deadline nears as early voting rises

October 24, 2020 3:31 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb absentee ballots

With a week remaining in early voting in Cobb County, the number of voters who’ve voted in-person has surpassed those casting absentee ballots.

As of Thursday, Cobb Elections said 95,767 votes have been cast at nearly a dozen early voting locations around the county over the last two weeks.

Out of 177,491 absentee ballots requested by voters in the county, 93,241 have been returned, according to Cobb Elections.

Voters who wish to vote absentee but haven’t yet requested a ballot must do so by no later than this coming Tuesday, Oct. 27.

You can do this online by clicking here. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has created an absentee ballot tracker that lets you follow the status of that ballot after you return your application.

Your absentee ballot can be returned via mail as long as it’s postmarked by election day, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m.

For convenience and the sake of time, there are 16 secured absentee ballot drop boxes in Cobb, including four in East Cobb. They are open 24/7, also until 7 p.m. election day:

East Cobb Government Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road);
Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road);
Mountain View Regional Library (3330 Sandy Plains Road);
Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive).

Early voting was continuing on Saturday, and next week you’ll be able to do that only Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There won’t be any early voting next Saturday, Oct. 31, or on Monday, Nov. 2, the day before the election.

As of Thursday, the East Cobb Government Center spot had the most early voting numbers, with 12,220 votes. The Art Place (3320 Sandy Plains Road) is second with 11,277, followed by the main Cobb Elections office, where 11,156 votes have been cast.

You can check all the figures by clicking here.

This week, both of those East Cobb locations have had more than 1,000 votes cast per day. At the East Cobb government center, more than 1,500 people voted on Wednesday and Thursday, the highest single-day figures in the county.

The Cobb GIS office has created a wait-time map for each location, with poll managers updating the estimates during the times the polls are open.

If you’re voting early next week, rain is in the forecast Tuesday-Thursday.

East Cobb 2020 Elections Preview: Georgia House District 45

October 25, 2020 1:06 PMOctober 24, 2020 12:48 PM by Wendy Parker

Georgia House District 45 Preview

A longtime East Cobb Republican legislator unaccustomed to a general election challenge has drawn a first-time Democratic opponent for the second consecutive election.

Matt Dollar, a real estate professional who has represented District 45 since 2003, is facing attorney Sara Tindall Ghazal. They were unopposed in the primaries.

Since his victory over Essence Johnson in the 2018 general election with nearly 60 percent of the vote, Dollar has been caught up in the controversial East Cobb cityhood effort.

Near the end of the 2019 legislative session, he filed a bill to call for a referendum and create a city charter.

But Dollar couldn’t find any support from his East Cobb colleagues for the bill, which needed a Senate co-sponsor. At the end of last year, the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb announced it wouldn’t pursue the legislation.

At an East Cobb Business Association forum this week, Dollar tried to separate himself from the issue, insisting he was only sponsoring a bill, “not pushing cityhood,” that would only set up a referendum.

He also was critical of the pro-cityhood group, saying it “didn’t do a good job of explaining why it would be beneficial.”

(Previous ECN story here.)

In Dollar’s latest campaign disclosure report, however, several cityhood leaders were listed as contributors, including $1,000 each from Owen Brown, Rob Eble and Chip Patterson and $500 from David Birdwell.

Phil Kent, a public relations executive who initially handled publicity for the cityhood forces, also donated $200 to Dollar’s campaign.

Thus far, Dollar has raised $254,029 in contributions and has $174,584 in cash on hand.

Ghazal, a former staffer at The Carter Center and a former voter protection director for the Georgia Democratic Party, has raised $220,906 and has $152,375 on hand.

Here are the latest campaign disclosure reports filed by Dollar and Ghazal respectively.

Candidate websites

Dollar said at the ECBA forum his biggest priority is safely reopening Georgia’s economy, which he said is “is primed for a fast recovery” despite business shutdowns this spring and restrictions that still exist.

“We need to be safe, but people need to have a job to go back to,” Dollar said.

Ghazal said Georgia has to get a better handle on stopping the spread of COVID, which is her main issue.

“Things are going to get worse before they get better,” she said. “This crisis has highlighted the health disparities” that she said have only grown in Georgia.

Access to health care for lower-income Georgians remains “a long-term crisis that Georgia must face.”

When the candidates were asked if the state should undergo another lockdown, Ghazal said she wasn’t sure, and pointed to the lack of a statewide mask mandate as a possible option instead.

“People are making bad choices,” said Ghazal, who added that public health guidance needs to be followed.

Dollar praised Gov. Brian Kemp’s response, and said “Georgia is doing great in our recovery. Whatever Georgia’s doing, it works.”

On East Cobb cityhood, Ghazal said she’s been adamantly opposed all along, saying a city would create an extra layer of government that would result in higher taxes.

The cityhood bill was “putting the cart before the horse,” especially in light of vocal opposition.

Dollar defended his actions, saying it’s his job to listen as a public official, and said he stopped action on the bill after hearing from opponents.

On his website, Dollar has pointed to efforts to secure 100,000 medical masks and other personal protective equipment for health-care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the forum he noted his support for hate-crimes legislation.

Ghazal favors Medicaid expansion and tax-credits to address affordable housing needs, and would work to repeal “stand your ground laws.”

Like other Democrats running for the legislature, she’s also in support of same-day and online registration and favors automatically sending absentee ballot applications to voters in future elections, instead of them having to request them.

While Dollar said he has “a long history that I am proud of, my opponent is a carbon-copy of Stacey Abrams and her agenda.”

That’s a reference to 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate.

Ghazal pledged that if she’s elected, “you’ll get someone who is accessible, transparent and responsive to the community.”

East Cobb 2020 Elections Preview: Georgia House District 43

November 10, 2020 7:20 PMOctober 23, 2020 5:03 PM by Wendy Parker

District 43 Georgia House, Sharon Cooper, Luisa Wakeman

After having little to no opposition in many of her previous re-election bids, one of the Georgia legislature’s most influential members got a real run for her money in 2018.

State Rep. Sharon Cooper, an East Cobb Republican who is the chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, got only 51 percent of the vote against a first-time candidate, Democrat Luisa Wakeman.

Prior to that, Cooper had not had a general election opponent since 2010, when she won with 67 percent of the vote.

Wakeman, part of a wave of newcomers challenging Cobb’s Republican establishment, is running against Cooper again in House District 43, after both women were unopposed in their respective primaries in June.

With Republicans holding a 16-seat majority in the House, the stakes have risen on a number of races, particularly in the Atlanta suburbs, where Democrats see opportunities to flip seats.

The District 43 race has become unusually expensive for a state house campaign. According to campaign disclosure reports filed in early October, both candidates have raised well over six figures.

Cooper reported $364,219 in total 2020 contributions through July, and picked up $77,000 in donations in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30. She is reporting $189,896 in cash on hand.

Wakeman has raised $218,594 overall and $104,460 in the third quarter, with $115,571 on hand.

Here are the latest campaign disclosure reports filed by Cooper and Wakeman respectively.

Candidate websites

Cooper, who was first elected in 1996, touts her longtime service and advocacy of health-care legislation as well as assisted living homes, maternal mortality and landlord evictions in the 2020 session.

Wakeman said she’s running again as she did two years ago, as alternative to what she called “failed leadership” in the state.

At an East Cobb Business Association forum this week, the specific reference was the state’s response to COVID-19.

Cooper, a supporter of Gov. Brian Kemp, said that while she hasn’t agreed with him on everything, he has “protected our most valuable citizens” as the state tries to move forward.

She tried to rebuff Democratic efforts to tie her to state responses to the virus, saying “I’m not in charge of health care in this state.”

While Kemp has followed the advice of Georgia Department of Public Health Director Dr. Kathleen Toome, Cooper noted that changing guidelines that have come down to the state level on such things as mask-wearing and lockdowns have caused confusion.

“No wonder people are upset about it,” said Cooper, a retired nurse.

Wakeman, also a nurse, was critical of Kemp’s steps toward reopening the economy that she said prioritized “tattoo parlors over the safe reopening of schools. We need people who will listen to health care experts.”

Both candidates discussed other health care issues. Cooper said she was proud to work for $20 million in funding in a budget-challenged year to improve maternal mortality rates in Georgia.

That’s to expand a Medicaid waiver to provide coverage for low-income mothers from two to six months after giving birth.

“It’s a start,” she said. “Kemp is the first governor to make that kind of commitment.”

But Wakeman said Georgia’s ranking near the bottom of the nation—46th in all—is evidence that the state needs to do more to provide insurance and expand Medicaid coverage for mothers at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.

“Stop-gaps in an election year are not real solutions,” Wakeman said.

Cooper and Wakeman are both against East Cobb cityhood (see previous post here).

Cooper also supported tax reform measures that reduced both individual and corporate rates and efforts to curb regulations on small businesses.

At the forum, she mentioned her efforts to secure state dollars for local projects, including East Cobb Park and the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.

“I have a proven track record at the capitol and in the community,” she said.

Wakeman’s other priorities include working to overturn $1 billion in K-12 education funding cuts this year (including nearly $60 million in reductions for the Cobb County School District). She also favors same-day and online voter registration.

At the forum, Wakeman said Cooper gets only two percent of her campaign funds from contributors inside the district, with most of the rest coming from lobbyists.

Cooper’s filings show many contributions from political action committees—especially in the the health-care and medical fields—while Wakeman has a good number of small-amount contributors from within the East Cobb district.

“We have an opportunity to stand up for the community with a grassroots campaign,” Wakeman said.

East Cobb 2020 Elections Preview: Georgia Senate District 32

October 23, 2020 5:30 PMOctober 22, 2020 6:13 PM by Wendy Parker

Georgia Senate District 32 preview

For the third consecutive election, the same two candidates are on the ballot for the Georgia State Senate seat that covers most of East Cobb.

Republican Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (at left) is being challenged by Democrat Christine Triebsch (at right) in District 32, which also includes a portion of Sandy Springs.

Kirkpatrick, a retired orthopedic surgeon, defeated Triebsch in a 2017 special election runoff to succeed longtime Sen. Judson Hill, who resigned to run for Congress.

In 2018, Kirkpatrick won 58 percent of the vote against Triebsch in the general election to earn a full two-year term.

At a candidates forum this week sponsored by the East Cobb Business Association, Kirkpatrick said she’s “worked regularly across the aisle to solve problems,” both at the state and local level.

Her proudest piece of legislation, she said, was the “Save Our Sandwiches” bill that changed a provision in state law to allow non-profit organizations—especially Cobb-based MUST Ministries—to make sandwiches in church and similar kitchens as part of their efforts to feed those in need.

Triebsch is part of a wave of Democratic candidates in the county, including a number of women in East Cobb, who never been involved in politics until the election of Donald Trump as president.

“I think every race should be contested,” said Triebsch, a family law attorney whose husband is a Cobb County School District teacher. They have two children, a college senior and a daughter who who attends Pope High School.

As of Sept. 30, Kirkpatrick reported having raised $383,535 overall and $95,875 in the third quarter, with $248,345 cash on hand.

Triebsch has received a total of $32,617 in contributions with $10,960 in the third quarter, and has $21,886 in cash on hand/

Here are the latest campaign disclosure reports filed by Kirkpatrick and Triebsch respectively.

Candidate websites

Kirkpatrick, who contracted COVID-19 right before the legislative session was suspended in March, said continued efforts to get the virus under control is the top issue for her, especially following accepted public health guidelines while aiding the state’s economic recovery from shutdowns.

“We have a lot of businesses that have been devastated,” said Kirkpatrick, who has received the endorsements of the National Federation of Independent Business and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

In order for business and economic growth to take place, said Kirkpatrick, “we have to get out of the way.”

Triebsch said her top priorities are education funding and expanding health care access, including state Medicaid options.

She said supports fully funding K-12 education and is “totally against [private school] vouchers, and my opponent voted for it,” Triebsch said.

With reapportionment coming up in 2021, Triebsch also supports a non-partisan, independent panel to redraw congressional, legislative and local government and school board lines, a measure supported by Georgia Democrats in general.

“We need to get rid of gerrymandering,” Triebsch said.

She’s been endorsed by a variety of labor, pro-choice and gun-control organizations, including Georgia AFL-CIO, NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia and Moms Demand Action.

Both candidates are against East Cobb cityhood (see previous post here) and in response to another question at the forum, both also said they’re against defunding the police.

“I’ll always back the blue,” Kirkpatrick said. “Cops don’t want bad cops in their ranks.” She said she’s confident that a special legislative committee on police reform that met earlier this year will produce “some good legislation” in 2021.

Triebsch said defunding the police isn’t the way to reform. “I support better funding so we’ll have better-qualified candidates, and we need more funding for training.”

She emphasized her approach as a candidate as “running as your neighbor” and not a politician. Of Kirkpatrick, Triebsch said, “her values and voting are very different from me.”

Kirkpatrick said she’s “got a proven track record” in the legislature and pledged she would continue to be responsive and accessible if re-elected.

East Cobb early voting locations have highest turnouts

October 21, 2020 4:36 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb early voting lines

Cobb Elections said Wednesday that nearly 30 percent of Cobb’s roughly 540,000 registered voters have already cast their ballots, in person and via absentee.

Through Tuesday’s tallies, that breaks down to 88,053 absentee ballots that have been returned, and 72,165 votes cast at the 11 locations in the county open for early voting.

At the top of the list are the two spots in East Cobb. Through the first eight days of early voting, 9,104 ballots have been cast at the East Cobb Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road).

That’s more, at least for the moment, than the main Cobb Elections office on Whitlock Ave. in Marietta, where 8,715 votes have been cast.

Right behind that is The Art Place-Mountain View (3320 Sandy Plains Road), where 8,521 votes have been cast.

More details can be found here, and here are the daily tallies of early voting countywide:

10.12 7,729
10.13 6,865
10.14 8,123
10.15 9,411
10.16 9,835
10.17 7,391
10.19 11,282
10.20 11,529

As the daily turnout has increased, the wait times continue to go down. As of mid-afternoon Wednesday, the estimated wait times at both East Cobb locations were under an hour—50 minutes at The Art Place, and 30 minutes at the East Cobb government center.

You can check estimated wait times by clicking here; the estimates are updated periodically during the day by poll managers at each site.

Early continues through Friday of this week and Monday-Friday next week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at all of the existing locations.

Absentee ballot applications can still be requested from Cobb Elections, but you’ll need to hurry, by clicking here. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has created an absentee ballot tracker that lets you follow the status of that ballot after you return your application.

Readers have been inquiring about absentee voting issues, including the ballot tracker.

A few days ago an East Cobb resident asked about how long it takes after a ballot is placed in a drop box before a voter is notified that it’s been received and counted.

The best information we had was that it varies from location to location and by each county’s collection procedures. Cobb Elections says it collects ballots from the 16 drop boxes daily.

The reader got back in touch with us to note that he placed his ballot in the drop box at the Mountain View Regional Library (3330 Sandy Plains Road) on Friday. At 8 a.m. today, he got a message saying his ballot had been received and counted.

The other drop boxes in East Cobb are at the East Cobb government center, Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road) and Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive) and are available 24/7 until the polls close on election day, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.

At East Cobb candidates forum, cityhood remains a hot topic

October 20, 2020 4:51 PM by Wendy Parker

Although it’s been nearly a year since East Cobb cityhood proponents put their efforts on hold, candidates seeking local and state office this fall were asked at a forum Tuesday where they stood on the issue.

Among them was the lone co-sponsor of legislation that would have called for a referendum to let voters decide the matter.

State Rep. Matt Dollar reminded an audience at an East Cobb Business Association luncheon that “there was no bill to create a city.”

He was responding to questions from ECBA members, who included people attending in person and others via Zoom.

An East Cobb Republican who’s represented District 45 since 2003, Dollar said his bill—filed near the end of the 2019 legislative session and the day after cityhood proponents first faced the public—was “the start of a two-year process, and it was worthwhile to start a conversation.”

Dollar insisted that he was “not pushing cityhood,” and while at first he supported the idea of a City of East Cobb, he said the supporters of the effort “didn’t do a good job of explaining why it would be beneficial.”

The cityhood group held two other town hall meetings and the ECBA also held a debate, but no other legislators signed on as a co-sponsor, citing negative feedback from constituents.

In Georgia, cityhood bills must have a co-sponsor in the House and the Senate. State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, also an East Cobb Republican, said that “proponents of the bill need to make their case.” She never signed on to the bill and said if there was enough public support she would back a citizens’ committee to further examine the issue but “at this point it’s a moot point.”

In early December 2019 the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb announced it would not pursue the bill, which also included a proposed city charter and outlined maps, a city court structure and mayor and council terms, with elections as early as 2021.

The cityhood group spent tens of thousands of dollars on lobbyists, including a leading a prominent government relations firm in Georgia late last year.

Sarah Tyndall Ghazal — *Sarah Tindall Ghazal, who’s running against Dollar, said his East Cobb cityhood bill “put the cart before the horse.”*

State Rep. Sharon Cooper, a Republican from District 43, also didn’t co-sponsor the bill, although she asked for the required financial feasibility study that was completed in December 18 by Georgia State University researchers.

“I didn’t think there was much support,” said Cooper, who attended some of the early town halls in 2019. She said East Cobb citizens are “fat and sassy,” content with the level and quality of public services they receive, and as far as she is concerned, cityhood “now is a dead issue.”

Their Democratic opponents also stated during the forum that they strongly opposed cityhood. Christine Triebsch, an attorney who is challenging Kirkpatrick in the State Senate race, said the cityhood effort “was a colossal waste of time and energy.”

She said she was upset that as a constituent of Dollar’s she never heard anything from him about the legislation or the cityhood effort.

Sarah Tindall Ghazal, Dollar’s opponent on the Nov. 3 ballot, echoed other candidates saying a new city would create an extra layer of government and that Dollar’s bill “put the cart before the horse.”

Luisa Wakeman, who’s running against Cooper for the second election in a row, said “there’s just no support” for East Cobb cityhood.

At the ECBA forum, the two candidates for District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners also said they opposed East Cobb cityhood.

Republican Fitz Johnson said he has been adamantly opposed to cityhood all along, but noted that it’s the legislature, not county elected officials, who would put a referendum before the public.

Democrat Jerica Richardson said she’s read the financial feasibility study and concluded there’s “no sustainable economic base” for a city that would be heavily residential and questioned the report’s assumptions.

“The community was not behind it,” she said.

The proposed city map was to have included all of District 2 east of Interstate 75, excluding the Cumberland Community Improvement District, and a population of nearly 100,000.

Cityhood leaders said later in 2019 that they were seeking to expand the map, based on what they were hearing from those outside the proposed city limits who wanted in.

But the East Cobb Alliance, a group opposed to cityhood, offered up a best-guess estimate in December, and a majority of county commissioners and the Cobb legislators expressed doubts about the cityhood issue.

A few days later, the cityhood effort was abandoned. David Birdwell, one of the chief spokesmen for Committee for the Cityhood in East Cobb, said at that time that “we wanted to take the time to do it right.”

The group hasn’t made any public statements since then, and its website domain has expired. An interactive map it commissioned showing the initial boundaries that bored down to the neighborhood level remains active.

Related coverage

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!

Selling the Cobb SPLOST renewal with a back-to-basics theme

October 20, 2020 10:39 AM by Wendy Parker

Tritt property, Cobb 2022 SPLOST list

Officially, those in Cobb County government can’t openly push for the renewal of the county’s Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax that’s on the ballot this year.

What’s being called the 2022 Cobb SPLOST—for the year when a new sales tax collection period would begin—doesn’t have much in the way of big-ticket items, such as new facilities, upgrades or acquisitions.

Instead, the vast majority of the $750 million in spending over six years (down from an original estimate of $810 million) would go to transportation projects, public safety improvements and community amenities, including more park space and development.

Those major items include an $8 million earmark to complete acquisition of 24 acres of land owned by Wylene Tritt next to East Cobb Park.

It’s the most expensive item on a lengthy list of “community impact projects” that the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved for the 2022 project list in May.

Another project on the list is $4 million for the repurposing of Shaw Park in Northeast Cobb and a replacement for the nearby Cobb Fire Station No. 12.

(Here’s a summary of the proposed projects; and a more detailed look at what’s in the 2022 package.)

Nearly half of funding on that list would go for transportation and road improvement projects. The rest of the projects would be funded accordingly:

$82 million for public safety
$46 million in countywide projects
$32 million for community impact projects
$27.8 million for public services (parks, libraries)
$18 million combined for projects in Cobb’s six cities
$4 million for Cobb Sheriff’s Office improvements

While commissioners and official county communications to the public are noting that the SPLOST extension is on the ballot, the information is objective, for the most part.

“We can’t advocate for it,” Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said in an August interview with East Cobb News.

Before the SPLOST officially was approved for referendum, the county held several town halls that became virtual due to COVID-19 closures.

As Cobb voters are turning out heavily in early and absentee voting, county messages on its social media platforms, e-mails and website have been regularly reminding voter of what current SPLOSTs and the current one have yielded.

A video summary opens with the reminder that “this is not a new tax!” and that the current collection period doesn’t end this year, on Dec. 31, 2020.

In recent days the county has been posting on its Facebook page a “countdown” of its “Top 10” list of SPLOST projects over time, including the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center that opened at the end of 2017.

SPLOST critics like to point out the project list has become a “slush fund” that defies the term “special use.”

We heard from such a reader over the weekend, who wrote in to say that “SPLOST funds cannot be used for maintenance and repair.”

It’s been estimated that nearly 90 percent of Cobb DOT’s budget comes in SPLOST funds for just those purposes, which form the backbone of the items on the 2022 wish list.

Boyce was mindful of how the Atlanta Transportation SPLOST went down to heavy defeat in 2012, saying that those pushing for that tax disregarded what they were hearing from voters.

Even in spite of the disconnected nature of virtual town halls and indirect feedback in recent months, he said he feels confident that “we’ve done our homework.”

Nearly 25 percent of Cobb voters have cast early ballots

October 19, 2020 2:47 PM by Wendy Parker

After the first week of early voting in Cobb County, and three weeks after absentee voting began, Cobb Elections figures show nearly a quarter of registered voters in the county have cast their ballots.

Through Saturday’s early voting, a total of 49,354 voters cast their ballots at nine locations.

In addition, 86,302 absentee ballots have been returned, out of more than 172,000 requested by county voters.

That’s 135,656 voters in all out of the roughly 520,000 registered voters in Cobb County who have voted.

Early voting continues the next two weeks and includes two more locations, in Powder Springs and Kennesaw. The East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and The Art Place (3320 Sandy Plains Road) continue as early voting locations, from 7-7 Monday-Friday this week and next, and this Saturday from 8-5.

Thus far, 5,924 people have voted at The Art Place, and 6,347 at the East Cobb government center.

Cobb GIS has developed an an interactive map of estimated wait times and as of mid-afternoon Monday those were 105 minutes at the East Cobb government center and 45 minutes at The Art Place.

Voters can go to any early voting location regardless of where they live, or drop off absentee ballots at any of 16 secure drop boxes in the county, including four in East Cobb (see links below). They’re open 24/7 until 7 p.m. on Nov. 3, when the polls close on election day.

Absentee ballot applications can be requested through Oct. 30 from Cobb Elections by clicking here. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has created an absentee ballot tracker that lets you follow the status of that ballot after you return your application.

Heavy early voting turnout includes both East Cobb locations

October 17, 2020 1:13 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb early voting lines

The two early voting locations in East Cobb reported some of the biggest turnouts in the county through most of the first week.

According to numbers compiled by Cobb Elections, a total of 32,134 people cast their votes in person at the county’s nine early voting locations through Thursday.

That’s a new record, and compares to 14,288 for a similar period in 2016 and 5,536 in 2012.

At the East Cobb Government Service Center, there were 3,954 ballots cast during from Monday-Thursday, and 3,643 at The Art Place-Mountain View.

Although waiting lines were longer earlier in the week—as elections officials observed social-distancing measures and sorted through some technical issues—more voters turned out later in the week.

More than 1,000 people turned out on Wednesday and Thursday at both East Cobb locations after those numbers were in triple figures on Monday and Tuesday.

Some lines on Monday were several hours in some places, and polling managers were providing occasional updates during the day on a Cobb GIS interactive map.

On Friday, those wait times were an hour or two at the East Cobb locations, but elections officials have said voters can go to any location in the county regardless of where they live.

Saturday was the first of two weekend days for early voting, and as of 1 p.m. the estimated wait time at The Art Place is 45 minutes and at the East Cobb government center it’s 30 minutes.

Early voting will take place Monday-Friday for the next two weeks from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and next Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at all of the existing locations.

As was the case during the primary, however, more people have already voted via absentee ballot. A total of 69,394 absentee ballots have been returned to Cobb Elections, which has sent out 169,868 absentee ballots upon request.

More information about absentee balloting can be found at the top story link below, including drop box locations that are open 24/7 until the polls close on election day, Nov. 3.

How to get, complete and return an absentee ballot in Cobb

October 17, 2020 1:35 PMOctober 15, 2020 12:21 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb absentee ballots

We’ve been getting questions from readers about the absentee ballot process, and given the lines that continue during early voting in Cobb County, we’ve got some updated answers and information.

First of all, before you go to any early voting location in the county, you can check estimated wait times at this interactive map.

More than 168,000 absentee ballots have been sent to Cobb voters (the county has around 518,000 registered voters), and 61,670 absentee ballots have been returned.

The absolute deadline for requesting one is Oct. 30, but Cobb Elections director Janine Eveler said ideally requests should be made no later than Oct. 27.

Absentee ballot applications can be requested from Cobb Elections by clicking here. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has created an absentee ballot tracker that lets you follow the status of that ballot after you return your application.

Some readers have been asking if they can still vote in-person if they’ve received an absentee ballot, and the answer to that is that they can.

Georgia is among the states that allows voters to do that, but the process of cancelling a ballot at the polls adds to the wait times. You’re asked to bring your absentee ballot with you; you won’t be able to vote in person until your absentee ballot is cancelled.

There are cancellation instructions that can be found here. If you don’t have your ballot with you when you arrive at the poll on the Nov. 3 election day, you’ll have to fill out an affidavit and poll workers will have to call the Cobb Elections office to have the ballot cancelled.

If you’re planning to vote via absentee ballot, the packet of materials you’ll get in the mail from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office (in the photo at top) includes four separate items: the ballot, a sheet with instructions, and two envelopes.

Cobb absentee ballots

You must mark your ballot with blue or black ink only, and fill in the entire oval next to the name of the candidate you wish to vote for. The process is the same for voting for a write-in candidate and for ballot issues.

Don’t make an “X” or use check marks or vote for more than one candidate in a race.

If you make an error or spoil your ballot immediately contact Cobb Elections to get a replacement.

When you’re finished, fold the ballot and place it in the smaller envelope that says “OFFICIAL ABSENTEE BALLOT” on the front and seal it. Then place that envelope in the larger envelope with a yellow stripe on the left and seal that.

Make sure you sign the back of the larger envelope where it says “Oath of Elector” and print out your name below that.

Cobb absentee ballots

If you wish to mail your absentee ballot, include your return address and proper postage. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by no later than 7 p.m. on election day, Nov. 3.

You can also drop off that ballot at any of the 16 absentee ballot locations in the county (listings here) 24/7 up through 7 p.m. election day, Nov. 3, when the polls close.

In East Cobb those drop boxes are located at the following:

East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road)
Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road)
Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road)
Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive)

In-person early voting lines that had been 8 hours or longer in some parts of the county (and 4-5 from what we heard from voters in East Cobb) on Monday have been shorter as the week went on.

As of noon Thursday, the estimates were three hours at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and an hour, 20 minutes at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road).

Those estimates fluctuate throughout the day, and there is no regular schedule for them to be updated.

Eveler said those numbers are revised by poll managers “as they see a change in conditions at that location.”

The estimates are provided to guide voters about when and where they may want to vote in advance.

A total of 22,717 people have voted early through the first three days, Monday-Wednesday. That includes 2,733 people at the East Cobb government center and 2,422 at The Art Place.

Eveler said all of the locations are fully staffed but “but it’s a three-week schedule so it is constantly evolving as people’s situations change,” such as illnesses and no-shows.

Early voting continues in Cobb Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Oct. 30 and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the next two Saturdays, Oct. 17 and 24.

Due to social-distancing guidelines each early voting location has between 6-9 voting machines. Here’s how that breaks down:

Cobb early voting equipment

That’s another reason why Cobb Elections officials have been encouraging voters to vote via absentee ballot.

Cobb Elections has more on absentee voting, advance voting and election-day voting.

If you have any other questions e-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll try to get answers.

Commissioner: Cobb ‘should do better’ with early voting lines

October 13, 2020 6:42 PMOctober 13, 2020 2:01 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb early voting lines — *Early voting lines at the East Cobb Government Service Center on Monday were as long as four hours, and even longer at The Art Place. (ECN photo)*

The day after citizens waited for hours to start the early voting period, the two Cobb commissioners facing one another in the chairman’s election sounded off on the subject.

At the end of Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting Lisa Cupid, who represents South Cobb, showed national television news footage of long lines that snaked around one of the county’s 11 early voting locations.

The number of those locations and early voting dates have been expanded ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. But more than 7,000 Cobb voters stood in lines lasting several hours in some places, the result of increased turnout and social-distancing protocols.

Cupid, the lone Democrat on the board, said that “I know we can do better, I know we should do better . . . so people don’t have to wait for eight to 10 hours to vote in Cobb County, in the year 2020.”

She said while the strong voting numbers reflect voter energy and excitement, “it’s another thing to question whether or not our voters should have to experience something like that.”

Cupid was critical of her colleagues for nixing a $200,000 request by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration in July to mail absentee ballots to all registered voters in the county.

Cobb Elections has set up an expedited process to mail absentee ballots to voters who request them online, but Cupid asked “how much did it cost to have our poll workers to have to stay late” processing the votes of those who stood in line well after closing time.

“This is not a condition that we should ignore,” Cupid said. “When people talk about voter suppression, it’s these types of events that they’re referring to.”

Early voting continues Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Oct. 30 and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the next two Saturdays, Oct. 17 and 24.

The Cobb government GIS office is providing wait-time updates for each of the early voting locations. On Monday the longest estimate at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) was four hours; at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), it was as long as five hours.

County spokesman Ross Cavitt said there have been some complaints about how timely the wait-time maps are, and that poll managers are updating that information.

Janine Eveler, the director of Cobb Elections, said in an e-mailed statement that “each poll manager at the voting sites has a login and updates the wait times periodically when they have the opportunity. The wait time is an estimate for that particular moment in time, but voter experiences may vary.”

Commissioner Keli Gambrill said of the 7,062 people who voted early on Monday, 1,386 of them had to cancel absentee ballots, which she said also adds to the waiting time at the polls.

That has to be done before a voter can cast a vote in person.

Mike Boyce, the Republican chairman, spoke last, as is the custom at the end of meetings, and pulled down his mask to respond to Cupid’s comments.

Although not addressing her directly, Boyce said it’s “unfortunate that in this day and age that we’ve politicized the voting process.”

He said the partisan actions of both Democratic and Republican parties are to blame for creating a “narrative” of mistrust, regardless of how someone may vote.

Boyce noted that the commission approved spending $300,000 for security cameras to monitor 16 absentee drop boxes that have been placed around the county, “yet there are people who don’t believe those drop boxes are trustworthy.”

A retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, Boyce admitted that while lines are inconvenient, “what is it worth to you to stand in line for one of the greatest freedoms we have have, called voting? And for those who fought for you to be able to stand in line today?

“Here’s what standing in line means for me: When you show that photo of lines to people living in China, or North Korea, or Belorussia, that shows that people will stand in line to do what it takes to show that the people are in charge.

“Everyone who stands in line stands for those who went before us and gave us this freedom to do what I believe is the most important thing our government responds to, and that is to hear the will and the voice of the people through the ballot box.”

Regardless of the method of voting, Boyce added, “those who go and do it are the true heroes right now. Those who don’t, you have to ask yourself, what is it about this country that you don’t like? That you don’t go and do your duty and don’t vote?”

The county also said Tuesday that voters concerned about their absentee ballot status can use a tracking website from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office that can be found here.

The absentee ballot drop boxes in Cobb include the East Cobb government center, Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road), Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive) and Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road).

A full list of drop boxes can be found here. They will be open 24/7 until 7 p.m. on election day, Nov. 3.

Cobb early voting interactive map shows wait-time estimates

December 14, 2020 9:14 AMOctober 12, 2020 11:06 AM by Wendy Parker

EC Govt Center early voting

UPDATED FOR RUNOFFS, DEC. 14:

Here’s more information about early voting for the U.S. Senate runoffs, which continues through Dec. 31 at several locations in Cobb County, including the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road).

And here’s the link to the interactive map from Cobb GIS, which is updated periodically during the day by poll managers at the early voting locations:

Cobb Elections early voting wait-time map

From Dec. 28-31, voters can also vote in advance at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road).

Cobb Elections provides the links below for early and absentee voting:

Dropboxes for absentee ballots are open 24/7 through 7 p.m. on election day, Nov. 3, and include the East Cobb government center, the Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road), Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive) and the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road).

Candidate profile: Jerica Richardson, Cobb Commission District 2

October 10, 2020 12:51 PMOctober 10, 2020 12:20 PM by Wendy Parker

Jerica Richardson, Cobb Commission candidate

With the possibility of significant political change abounding in Cobb County, Jerica Richardson wants to be more than a symbol of what she says has been transpiring for some time.

A self-professed policy wonk and technology professional, the 31-year-old aide in several successful local campaigns is making her first stab at political office.

It’s coming at a time when her fellow Democrats have been gaining momentum in recent elections in the county.

“That I’m running is really separate from that,” said Richardson, who is facing Republican Fitz Johnson for District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners in the Nov. 3 general election.

Johnson has received the endorsement of retiring commissioner Bob Ott, while Richardson is being backed by former Gov. Roy Barnes of Cobb County.

She says she’s part of “new flavor” of Democrats that forms just one part of a “wide spectrum of candidates” who’ve been making inroads into what has been a strongly Republican electorate.

Her sizable campaign staff includes quite a number of young people responsible for such duties as Hispanic outreach, sustainability initiatives and social media fundraising.

Richardson’s website can be found here; East Cobb News profiled Johnson earlier this week.

A former state school superintendent candidate, Johnson has been pointing to his military, business and community experience in attempting to win his first election.

Most recently, Richardson directed the campaign of Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard and was his appointment to the district’s SPLOST oversight board until she decided to run.

On Sunday, she’s having a get out the vote rally with Howard at the green space at The Battery Atlanta, and has been “tag teaming” with other Democratic candidates in leaving campaign materials with targeted voters.

She was unopposed in the Democratic primary and received more votes (24,126) than the three Republican primary candidates combined (18,371).

She said she’s not taking those numbers for granted and is learning the lay of a very diverse district, which stretches from the Cumberland-Vinings area to northeast Cobb around Mabry Park.

Richardson, who lives in the Delk Road area, is familiar with the heart of East Cobb. Her family moved to the Hampton Chase subdivision as she was finishing up at North Springs High School, and her brothers attended Walton High School.

The family came to metro Atlanta after evacuating New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina. Richardson graduated from Georgia Tech with a biomedical engineering degree.

She said her vision in seeking office is to help better connect Cobb County—its citizens, communities and organizations—across a range of issues.

“The message is timeless,” Richardson said. “There are so many wonderful things that Cobb County has to offer, but we have some divisions. Connecting Cobb is the overarching message for that.”

She raises similar concerns as Commissioner Lisa Cupid, who’s running against Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce.

Whether it’s land use and development, transit and other issues, Richardson thinks county government leaders need to establish stronger working ties with other public officials and bodies and citizens and community groups.

“A lot of relationships are just broken,” she said, citing the process under which the Atlanta Braves stadium deal was brokered in 2013. “A lot of people felt that their concerns weren’t considered at all, and it was a missed opportunity. They didn’t feel like they mattered, and this is still going on in other parts of the county.”

Richardson said she would prioritize community engagement—what she calls her “empowerment” agenda—in numerous capacities, and according to what she calls “responsible transparency.”

Those include land use, zoning and development issues in a District that ranges from high-density commercial districts in Cumberland and traditional suburban neighborhoods in East Cobb.

Richardson advocates more master planning activities that includes community feedback beyond the current zoning process.

She also said the county needs to do a better job of steering citizens toward community resources.

“Only a certain group of people know how to find that kind of information,” she said.

Richardson said that while “the sky is not falling” in Cobb County in terms of political leadership, she thinks the commission has become too fractious, with commissioners acting “too separately” instead of the county has a whole.

“All five board members have equal votes on the issues that matter the most,” she said. “I want to look for solutions that affect everyone.”

Richardson opposes East Cobb Cityhood. A bill proposed last year by State Rep. Matt Dollar, an East Cobb Republican, included a city map with most of District 2 east of I-75. But a cityhood group said a year ago it was delaying its efforts.

After attending several cityhood town halls over the last couple of years, she said “I was very inspired by the community response. Democrats and Republicans were really united about that!”

She said that with cityhood, “you’re going to see higher taxes, you’re going to see a double layer of government.”

More than anything, Richardson said she questions the motives of those behind cityhood. “Whether it’s for political power or for demographic reasons, I don’t know.

“But I heard from a lot of people who were concerned about what would happen to the rest of the county,” she said, adding that she gets a few e-mails a week about the cityhood issue.

Richardson said she’s encouraged by the start of a step-and-grade salary structure for public safety employees.

She worries that “very conservative leadership” in Cobb over many years has the county, now with more than 750,000 people, budgeted at what she estimates is 60-70 percent of what “counties our size have been operating on.

“It’s thin but I don’t support raising taxes,” Richardson said. “I want to raise the tax base.”

She supports creating a potential Cobb sales tax for extending transit in the county in targeted areas, and would advocate a long-term public health response in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

Among those initiatives would be coordinating pandemic preparations with local school districts and have a strengthened working relationship with Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

“They’re at the table, but we need to figure out how to move past this in the long run,” she said.

As Cobb continues to grow and become diverse, Richardson said she’s eager to tackle the challenge of striking the right balance for a county that’s at an important crossroads.

“The task is to keep Cobb home for those who have been here, but also for those who are yet to come,” she said.

Live election night reporting

Related coverage

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

EAST COBB ELECTIONS GUIDE

CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION

WHERE TO VOTE

ABSENTEE BALLOT DROP BOXES

GOING TO THE POLLS

FOLLOW ELECTION COVERAGE

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

State House District 44

State House District 46

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Post 5 candidate profiles

More elections news

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Candidate websites

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Candidate websites

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Candidate websites

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related coverage

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this:

Related Content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Share this post:

Like this: