UPDATED, 2 P.M. WEDNESDAY
UPDATED, 12:30 A.M. WEDNESDAY
This will be the final update of the evening; we’ll have more coverage later Wednesday as final absentee and provisional ballots are still to be counted.
East Cobb News also will be sending out a special election newsletter on Wednesday. If you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to sign up, please click here.
Live election night reporting
- All results from federal, state and local races
- Cobb County results
- U.S. Senate, 6th Congressional, legislative and presidential results
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Party control of the Cobb Board of Commissioners could be switching over to Democrats.
Shortly after midnight, Democrat Jerica Richardson held a 109-vote lead over Republican Fitz Johnson, 33,971-33,862.
But with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, she now holds a lead of 41,169 to 37,951, with absentee and other late ballots still to be counted.
They’re seeking to succeed retiring Republican commissioner Bob Ott.
Commissioner Lisa Cupid appears headed to victory over Republican incumbent Mike Boyce for Cobb Commission Chair.
With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Cupid has 171,074 votes to 156,005, or 52-47 percent.
Cupid would be the first Democrat to hold that position since Ernest Barrett in 1984.
Republicans currently have a 4-1 advantage on the commission, with Cupid the only Democrat. Her successor in District 4 in South Cobb, Monique Sheffield, is a Democrat.
Control of the Cobb Board of Education also was on the line.
Republican incumbent David Banks has 23,672 votes in the Post 5 race in East Cobb (Pope and Lassiter clusters), while Democrat Julia Hurtado had 21,634 votes with 100 percent of the precincts reporting.
Two other Republican incumbents also were seeking re-election. Randy Scamihorn appears headed to victory, and current chairman Brad Wheeler had trailed his Democratic challenger by less than 200 votes.
But he took a lead of less than 2,000 votes early Wednesday.
Going into the elections, Republican held a 4-3 majority on the school board.
Another race that’s too close to call is the State House District 43 race in East Cobb. Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper had trailed Democrat Luisa Wakeman by five votes, 9,679, to 9,674.
Wakeman has stretched her lead, and has 10,417 votes to 9,995 for Cooper.
All other East Cobb legislative incumbents were leading their races early Wednesday, after trailing before election-day votes came in.
Vote-counting is still going on in other metro Atlanta counties, so statewide races, some Congressional races and and the presidential race still haven’t been determined.
President Donald Trump leads Joe Biden 53-42 in Georgia, although Biden leads in Cobb 55-42 percent.
U.S. Sen David Perdue leads Democrat Jon Ossoff 52-45 percent.
The U.S. Senate seat that’s in a jungle primary appears headed for a runoff. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler has 27 percent and Democrat Raphael Warnock has 29 percent.
Republican Congressman Doug Collins, who has 23 percent, has conceded and has offered his support to Loeffler. The runoff will be on Jan. 5, 2021, and the winner will fill the remaining two years of Johnny Isakson’s term.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat, looks to have won re-election over Republican Karen Handel, whom she beat in 2018, in the 6th Congressional District race.
McBath led 54-45 percent with 50 percent of the precincts reporting, as votes from Fulton and DeKalb counties still hadn’t been counted.
Longtime Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren appeared headed for defeat by Democrat Craig Owens, a former officer in the Cobb Police Department.
Joyette Holmes, a Republican appointed Cobb District Attorney last year, also was trailing by 3,699 votes to Democrat Flynn Broady, an assistant Cobb solicitor.
The Cobb SPLOST was resoundingly renewed by voters, with “yes” votes totaling 66 percent.
All the results are unofficial pending certification by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration.
UPDATED, 11:30 P.M.
With 80 percent of Cobb precincts reporting, Democratic commissioner Lisa Cupid leads Republican incumbent Mike Boyce in the Cobb Commission chair’s race 52-48 percent, by around 11,400 votes.
The District 2 race for Cobb Board of Commissioners is a virtual dead heat, also with 80 percent of precincts reporting.
Democrat Jerica Richardson’s lead has been reduced to 674 votes, or 50.5 percent to 49.4 percent, over Republican Fitz Johnson.
She has 32,856 votes to 32,182 for Johnson. With late absentee ballots still to be counted, this race may not be determined until Wednesday at the earliest.
In the Post 5 race for Cobb Board of Education, Republican incumbent David Banks has a 52-48 percent lead over Democrat Julia Hurtado.
Banks has 23,399 votes to 21,509 for Hurtado. Two other school board Republican incumbents have bigger leads over Democratic challengers, so the GOP’s 4-3 majority on the school board for now looks like it will remain.
Another close race in East Cobb is in State House District 43. Republican Rep. Sharon Cooper, who has trailed all evening, is 210 points behind Democrat Luisa Wakeman, 9,488-9,288.
Republican Sen. David Perdue was leading Democrat Jon Ossoff 54-43 percent, with metro Atlanta counties still to report.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath continues to lead Karen Handel in the 6th Congressional District race 54-45 percent.
President Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in Georgia’s presidential voting by 54-45, although again metro Atlanta counties have not yet reported.
UPDATED, 10:30 P.M.
With nearly half of all Cobb precincts reporting, some of the key races we’re looking at are starting to tighten.
Democratic commissioner Lisa Cupid leads Republican incumbent Mike Boyce in the Cobb Commission chair’s race, but her margin has been reduced to 53-46 percent, or a 14,000-vote lead, with 51 percent of precincts reporting.
In Cobb Commission District 2, Democrat Jerica Richardson’s lead over Republican Fitz Johnson also has been cut. With 51 percent reporting, she’s up by less than 3,000 votes, or 52.-47 percent.
The Cobb Board of Education Post 5 race also has closed. Republican incumbent David Banks has gone ahead of Democrat Julia Hurtado by less than 400 votes, or 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent, with 55 percent of precincts reporting.
Democrats lead Republican incumbents in the Sheriff and District Attorney’s race, but those margins are getting smaller as more election-day results come in. Both races have 51 percent of precincts reporting.
Democrat Flynn Broady leads Republican incumbent Joyette Holmes only by 51-48 percent, or less than 6,000 votes, for District Attorney. Longtime Republican sheriff Neil Warren trails Democrat Craig Owens 55-44 percent.
In East Cobb legislative races, Republican State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick is pulling away from Democrat Christine Triebsch 54-45 percent in District 32.
Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper is closing on Democrat Luisa Wakeman, who leads 51-47 percent in District 43.
Two other East Cobb Republican incumbents, State Rep. Matt Dollar of District 45 and Don Parsons of District 44, have pulled ahead of their Democratic foes.
Republican State Rep. John Carson of District 46 is cruising to re-election, leading Democrat Caroline Holko 61-39 percent.
Democratic State Rep. Mary Frances Williams continues to hold a solid lead over Republican Rose Wing, 55-44 percent, in District 37.
East Cobb News will be sending out a special election newsletter on Wednesday. If you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to sign up, please click here.
UPDATED, 9:05 P.M.
Election-day results are starting to trickle in, and a combination of early and absentee ballots have Democrats in the lead in a number of races.
You can follow real-time updates at the links below.
Lisa Cupid has 58 percent of that vote in the Cobb Commission Chair race, with incumbent chairman Mike Boyce at 42 percent.
In Cobb Commission District 2, Democrat Jerica Richardson leads Republican Fitz Johnson 55-44 percent, and in Cobb Board of Education Post 5, Democrat Julia Hurtado is ahead of Republican incumbent David Banks 56-44 percent.
Similar trends are playing out in countywide races for Sheriff, District Attorney and Superior Court Clerk, as Republican incumbents are trailing their Democratic challengers for now.
Likewise in the state legislative seats in East Cobb, where the only Republican incumbent, State Rep. John Carson of District 46, has a lead at this stage.
Across Georgia, 43 of 159 counties have reported, many of them in rural parts of Georgia where Republicans are strong.
President Donald Trump leads Joe Biden 57-42 percent, and U.S. Sen. David Perdue leads Jon Ossoff 57-40 percent.
In the other U.S. Senate race, a jungle primary has Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler surging ahead of Democrat Raphael Warnock, 29-27 percent, and Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins has 24 percent.
In the 6th Congressional race, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath leads her predecessor, Republican Karen Handel, 60-39 percent.
But again, full metro Atlanta returns are a long way from being reported.
ORIGINAL POST, 7:01 P.M.
The polls have closed in Georgia, and the counting has begun for the 2020 general election.
Voters who were in line by 7 p.m. Tuesday will be able to vote. Voters in the Sope Creek 2 precinct in East Cobb who were in line by 7:20 p.m. also will be able to vote.
A judge approved a time extension Tuesday afternoon at that polling station at Sope Creek Elementary School because the poll manager arrived 20 minutes late this morning.
Absentee ballots that were left in the 16 designated drop boxes in Cobb County also were collected at 7 p.m.
East Cobb News will continuously update this post all evening with results from local, state and federal races.
Early voting results have been posted, and in Cobb they generally show Democrats with the lead at all levels—federal, state and local.
Some polling stations in Cobb had lines when the polls opened at 7 a.m., but otherwise, there were few lines and little waiting at the county’s 145 precincts.
Cobb Elections said 58 percent of the county’s roughly 540,000 registered voters cast absentee ballots or voted during the early-voting period.
Voters were selecting seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners (chairman and District 2), three Cobb Board of Education seats (including Post 5 in East Cobb), all state legislative seats, both U.S. Senate seats, the 6th Congressional District and president.
Countywide races for Sheriff and District Attorney are also on the ballot, as is a 6-year renewal of the Cobb Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
Typically early voting and absentee figures are tallied first, followed by same-day voting results and more recent absentee votes.
Earlier absentee ballots are expected to be counted rather quickly, as they have been processed to prepare for tabulation when the polls close.
While we await full we’ll results, we’ll post early voting and absentee figures as they are revealed.
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