UPDATED Wednesday, 10:58 pm: The final absentee ballots are still to be counted, with Johnson increasing his lead on Wednesday from late Tuesday by seven votes to hold a 90-vote lead, 4,913 to 4,823 for Smith.
We will update with a new post by the end of the week. The election will not be certified until Aug. 20.
Check real-time results by clicking here.
UPDATED, 11:59 P.M.:
The Cobb Board of Commissioners District 2 Republican runoff election was separated by fewer than 100 votes late Tuesday.
Candidates Andy Smith (right) and Fitz Johnson both expected this race to go down to the wire, as did the June 9 primary.
According to unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, Johnson had 4,853 votes, or 50.4 percent, to 4,770 votes for Smith, or 49.6 percent, with all 39 precincts reporting.
Still to be counted are absentee mail-in ballots. Both candidates said in interviews with East Cobb News late Tuesday it may be a few days before the results are certified.
Smith was ahead most of the night on the strength of absentee votes and was surprised so many had already come in—those were drop-off ballots that he led, 2,751 to 2,296.
Johnson trimmed Smith’s lead and finally overtook him late with in-person votes in Tuesday’s balloting at precincts, 2,003 to 1,551 at the last count.
Smith, a former member of the Cobb Planning Commission who lives in East Cobb, said he made an effort to reach more potential voters in door-to-door campaigning during the runoff campaign.
“I was just focusing on getting out and meeting more people,” he said. “I’ve been out every day for the last three weeks.”
Johnson, a retired Army officer and business executive from Vinings, said he was emphasizing voters in East Cobb.
“It’s a tough vote,” he said, especially in motivating voters to participate in the runoffs.
As he took the lead, Johnson was closing in on Smith in some East Cobb precincts with heavy turnouts, and had gone ahead in Mt. Bethel 1, Roswell 1, Shallowford Falls 1 and Willeo 1.
Johnson, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 before the primary, said for safety concerns—his own and those of voters—he didn’t knock on doors during the runoff.
“I didn’t feel that was the right thing to do,” he said. “We just did a lot of talking to people on the phone, sent out mailers.”
According to state law, losing candidates can ask for a recount if they come within a half-percentage point of the winner.
Here’s how the precinct map looked at the end of Tuesday’s counting. Smith led in precincts in turquoise, and Johnson was ahead in precincts shaded in blue. For real-time updates and precinct-by-precinct voting, click here:
UPDATED, 10:45 P.M.:
Partial results in 27 of 39 precincts have been reported, and Smith’s lead has dwindled to 50.6 percent.
He has 4,224 votes to 4,118 for Johnson, with 49.4 percent. Smith led in mail-in absentee balloting, but Johnson has closed the gap in today’s voting at precincts, with 1,268 votes, compared to 1,005 for Smith.
Smith still leads most East Cobb precincts, but Johnson has gone ahead slightly in Sewell Mill 1, Murdock 1, Chestnut Ridge 1 and Hightower 1.
Johnson also holds leads for now in Roswell 1, Shallowford Falls 1 and Willeo 1.
UPDATED, 10:15 P.M.:
Some more in-person voting from today is being added to the totals, with partial results being reported in 12 of 39 precincts.
Smith has 3,535 votes (52.6 percent) and Johnson has 3,184 votes (47.4 percent). Johnson leads in counting from today’s in-person voting 450-440.
While Smith continues to lead most East Cobb precincts, he is enjoying his best margins in Mt. Bethel 3 and 4, Fullers Park 1, Eastside 1 and 2 and Sope Creek 2 and 3, in some cases with between 55 and 60 percent of the vote.
UPDATED, 9:54 P.M.:
Absentee ballots and early voting results have given Andy Smith a slight lead over Fitz Johnson, with today’s in-person tabulations just starting to come in.
As of around 9:30 p.m., Smith had 3,097 votes, or 53 percent, to 2,797 for Johnson, for 47 percent.
Smith led the mail-in absentee ballots 2,751 to 2,296, while Johnson led advance voting 438-344.
The absentee ballots are likely not complete, as voters had until 7 p.m. Tuesday to have them mailed dropped off at various drop-off locations set up by Cobb Elections.
The early precinct map shows Smith ahead in most of the East Cobb precincts, in his home base, and Johnson, who lives in Vinings, is ahead in most of the Vinings-Cumberland-Smyrna polling stations.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 7:02 P.M.:
The polls have closed for the Georgia runoff elections, which include a Republican race for District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
Those candidates are Fitz Johnson of Vinings, left, and Andy Smith of East Cobb. While turnout at the polls and during early voting was expected to be light, most of the votes will be coming via absentee ballots, which will be counted last.
You can track results as they come in at this link from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, and East Cobb News will be updating results from that and other local races here.
When Johnson edged Smith in the June 9 primary, the results were not certified for several days due to a heavy number of absentee ballots.
According to Cobb Elections, nearly 6,000 people voted in-person over the last two weeks, while more than 18,000 absentee ballots were returned for the runoff.
The winner of Tuesday’s District 2 runoff will face Democrat Jerica Richardson in November. A first-time candidate, she was unopposed in the primary.
The winner in the general election will succeed retiring commissioner Bob Ott, a three-term Republican. He appointed Smith to the Cobb Planning Commission but has not made an endorsement.
Also on the countywide ballot Tuesday are two non-partisan judicial runoffs.
One is for Cobb Superior Court Judge between Jason Marbutt of East Cobb, a Cobb senior assistant district attorney, and attorney Greg Shenton.
The other is for Cobb State Court Judge between Trina Griffiths and Diana Simmons.
Another open seat on the commission will be determined Tuesday in a Democratic runoff for District 4, in South Cobb. Incumbent commissioner Lisa Cupid, who is challenging current Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce in November, is endorsing Monique Sheffield, her appointee to the Cobb Board of Zoning Appeals, in a runoff against Shelia Edwards.
There is not a Republican candidate on the ballot in November for that seat.
Other runoffs Tuesday will determine a Democratic nominee for Cobb Superior Court Clerk and a Democratic candidate for State House District 35 in North Cobb,
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