Cobb Commission District 2 Democratic runoff ends Tuesday

Democratic voters will decide on Tuesday their party’s nominee in a special election for District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

Early voting ended Friday in the runoff between former State Rep. Erick Allen and former Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard, and turnout has been very light.

Only 1,469 votes were cast in early voting this week, according to Cobb Elections.

On Tuesday, voters will go to their assigned precincts to vote. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the precincts in the East Cobb area that are in District 2 are as follows:

• Chattahoochee 01: The Paces Foundation, 2730 Cumberland Boulevard
• East Piedmont 01: Shady Grove Baptist Church, 1654 Bells Ferry Road
• Elizabeth 01: Cobb EMC, 1000 EMC Parkway
• Elizabeth 02: Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2881 Canton Road
• Elizabeth 4: Gracelife Church, 1083 Allgood Road
• Marietta 6A: Kenyan American Community Church, 771 Elberta Drive
• Marietta 6B: Mt. Paran Church of God North, 1700 Allgood Road
• Powers Ferry 01: Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, 2051 Lower Roswell Road
• Sewell Mill 03: Immanuel Korean United Methodist Church, 945 Old Canton Road
• Terrell Mill 01: Former Eastvalley Elementary School, 2570 Lower Roswell Road

(Please note: Not all voters in these precincts are in District 2. To check your status, visit the My Voter Page at the Georgia Secretary of State’s website.)

The runoff winner will face Republican Alicia Adams in the April 29 general election.

The special elections were ordered by a Cobb judge after May 2024 primaries were invalidated due to electoral maps that were ruled to be in violation of the Georgia Constitution.

Those maps were drawn by Allen, of Smyrna, then the chairman of the Cobb legislative delegation but never received a vote. Since leaving office, Allen has been the head of the Cobb Democratic Party.

Howard, a dentist in Vinings, served on the Cobb school board from 2019-22. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Georgia Senate and for Georgia Superintendent of Schools.

After the court rulings, Cobb Commissioners voted to vacate the District 2 seat that had been held by Democrat Jerica Richardson, who was drawn out of her East Cobb home in redistricting.

In January Richardson lost her final appeal, and the commission has been operating with four members since then.

One of them, first-term Democrat Monique Sheffield, won her primary in February in the special election in District 4 in South Cobb, and will face Republican Matthew Hardwick in the April 29 general election.

Cobb Elections estimates the special elections will cost around $1.5 million.

Related:

• McBath files exploratory paperwork for Ga. governor’s race
• Democratic runoff set in Cobb Commission District 2 special election
• Richardson removed from office after appeals court rejection
• Richardson resumes seat as Cobb commission drama continues
• Richardson’s Cobb commission seat declared vacant by judge
• MORE: Visit the East Cobb News Politics & Elections Page

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