Cobb Elections said Wednesday afternoon that an estimated 90,000 absentee ballots are still being counted, leaving a number of close races in East Cobb and around the county still in question.
County spokesman Ross Cavitt said all results for the moment (available by clicking here) reflect in-person early voting and Tuesday’s primary voting figures at precincts.
Here’s what else he said:
“But the majority of the absentee ballots either mailed in or dropped off remain to be tallied. Work on sending in results from 70,000+ of those absentee ballots is ongoing and could continue through Friday.”
So it may not be until later in the week that we know who will be in the Republican runoff for District 2 of the Cobb Board of Commissioners. For the moment, Fitz Johnson leads a three-man field with 36 percent of the vote, while Andy Smith has 32 percent and Kevin Nicholas 31 percent.
A total of 583 votes separates them, and all that is certain is that the top two finishers will meet in a runoff in August.
An early check of the 39 precincts shows that Johnson, a retired Army officer and business owner, won seven precincts in East Cobb, while winning all but one in his home base of Cumberland-Vinings (marked in blue).
Smith and Nicholas, both from East Cobb, won precincts marked in light green and dark green, respectively. Click here to hover over precinct totals.
Another close race in East Cobb awaiting absentee ballot totals is the Democratic primary in State House 46.
Caroline Holko was leading Shirley Ritchie by 278 votes in a district that includes 12 precincts in Northeast Cobb and four in Cherokee County. As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, only 50 percent of those precincts have reported, with absentee ballots also to be counted.
That is the only contested legislative race in East Cobb.
As we noted late last night, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce and incumbent Cobb school board member David Banks were leading their GOP primaries without the need for a runoff.
So was Julia Hurtado, a Democrat in a two-way race for Post 5 and who had 58 percent of the vote.
Earlier today it looked as though Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff may not win that primary without a runoff, as he hovered around 48 percent of the vote.
With 81 percent of the in-person vote counted, Ossoff had 49 percent of the vote late Wednesday afternoon, but absentee ballots statewide have not all been counted.
The Democratic primary for Cobb Sheriff also appears headed for a runoff, with Craig Owens collecting 47 percent over Greg Gilstrap (30 percent) and East Cobb resident Jimmy Herndon (25 percent).
In other Cobb elections of note, Reuben Green, Chief Judge of the Cobb Superior Court, appears to have lost his re-election bid to attorney Angela Brown, who led 55-44 percent.
A runoff for an open seat on the Superior Court bench is shaping up between Jason Marbutt and Greg Shenton, while Cobb Magistrate Judge Kellie Hill was leading in a race for another open seat with 61 percent of the vote against Daniele Johnson.
A State Court judge runoff will take place in August between Trina Griffiths and Diana Simmons, also for an open seat.
All Cobb elections results will be updated at this link.
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