Lisa Cupid of South Cobb, the only Democrat on the five-member Cobb Board of Commissionrs, announced Tuesday she’ll be seeking the countywide office currently held by Republican Mike Boyce of East Cobb. 
She said on her Facebook page she decided to run after “much prayer and conversation with my family,” and offered a brief explanation why:
“Cobb County is on the move. We have new challenges and new opportunities and as we move forward, we must do so in the best interest of all the county.
“We have an opportunity to embrace what is to come and continue to make our county the best place in Georgia to live, work and play. We cannot allow the comfort of the present to scare us from the possibilities of tomorrow.”
The official campaign kickoff event is next Wednesday, April 10, at the Embassy Suites Hotel on Akers Mill Road.
Cupid also has launched a campaign website, Cupid for Cobb.
Cupid was first elected in 2012 after defeating incumbent Woody Thompson. Her background is in mechanical engineering and she is an attorney.
She was the only vote against the 2013 memorandum of understanding with the Atlanta Braves to build what’s now known as SunTrust Park, mainly because of the way the deal was handled.
Since Boyce was elected in 2016, Cupid has been his most reliable ally on the commission, vocally supporting his call for a property tax millage increase. It passed 3-2, over the objections of East Cobb commissioners Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell.
Cupid, who has advocated for greater economic and business development, transit and community-based policing, also has been Boyce’s vice chair for the last two years.
But the political profile of Cobb, which has been Republican-dominated for years, is changing. Hillary Clinton carried the county in the 2016 presidential campaign. Last year, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams easily won Cobb, as did most other statewide candidates in her party.
Even East Cobb, which has been heavily GOP, now has Democratic representation in Congress (Lucy McBath), one post on the Cobb school board (Charisse Davis) and a State House seat (Mary Frances Williams).
The last Democratic county chairman was Ernest Barrett, who served 1965-1984, shepherding Cobb through dramatic change as it was becoming suburbanized.
Cupid also would become the first female and the first African-American to lead the county government.
Boyce has said he is seeking a second term but has not formally announced his campaign. Ott, who is the longest-serving commissioner, first elected in 2008, will be completing his third term in 2020.
He has not indicated whether he will be running again for his current District 2 seat, which includes some of East Cobb and the Smyrna-Vinings-Cumberland area.
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