The League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb has invited candidates in three contested Cobb Board of Education general election races to a forum.
The forums for posts 1, 5 and 7 are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1 from 6-8 p.m. at the Switzer Library (266 Roswell Street, Marietta) and also will be livestreamed on YouTube.
The moderator is Chesley McNeil of 11Alive.
The three races are Post 1 in North Cobb, Post 5 in East Cobb and Post 7 in West Cobb. Republicans hold all three seats, and there are Democrats entered in each one.
The Post 5 seat, which includes the Walton, Pope and some of the Wheeler attendance zones, is open. Four-term Republican David Banks is retiring, and his successor will be one of two newcomers.
GOP hopeful John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge, parents in he Walton area, both announced their candidacies more than a year ago.
Post 1 Republican incumbent Randy Scamihorn is facing Democrat Vickie Benson in a rematch from the 2020 election, and in Post 7, two-term GOP member Brad Wheeler is being opposed by Democrat Andrew Cole, a first-time candidate.
The term in Post 3 in South Cobb also expires at the end of the year, but first-term Democrat Tre’ Hutchins did not draw any opposition in either party.
School board races this year have drawn increased attention. Republicans hold a 4-3 edge, and partisan squabbling has been a regular feature at meetings in recent years. Democrats hold the majority on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and the county’s legislative delegation in what had been a GOP stronghold.
The Post 5 and 7 races were close four years ago, as Banks and Wheeler were narrowly re-elected.
But the Post 5 lines have been changed since then due to reapportionment, to include most areas south of Sandy Plains and Shallowford Road and north of Lower Roswell Road.
(The school board post boundaries, which are drawn by the Georgia legislature, are not the same has school attendance zones, which are drawn administratively by the Cobb County School District).
The forum, which is free and open to the public, includes partnerships with Cobb Collaborative Vote Your Voice, Cobb Democracy Center, Marietta-Roswell Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Mi Familia en Acción, and redefinED Atlanta.
To register for in-person or virtual attendance click here; you can find the Spanish-language version by clicking here.
Related:
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- Mountain View Regional Library to hold transit tax open house
- Cobb transit tax opponents to hold campaign kickoff event
- Cobb launches transit tax website for November referendum
- Six presidential candidates to appear on Georgia ballot
- Cobb adopts state electoral maps; Richardson in limbo
- Cobb commissioners feud over resolving electoral map dispute
- Cobb may consider vacating District 2 commission seat
- Cobb judge upholds decision to call special elections
- Absentee ballot request period for Cobb, Ga. underway
- MORE: Visit the East Cobb News Politics & Elections Page
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