Qualifying for the May 24 primary elections ended at noon Friday, and several races in the East Cobb area will have contested primaries on the ballot.
(You can search through all candidates and all offices statewide by clicking here).
That local ballot will include the East Cobb Cityhood referendum, which will be decided by voters in the proposed city limits (visit our Cityhood page for more).
Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, a Republican, will have one opponent in the newly redrawn District 3 she has represented for three terms.
Also qualifying in the GOP primary for that seat is Judy Sarden, an attorney and homeschooling consultant (previous post here).
Birrell’s new seat will include most of East Cobb, including what had been in District 2. (That post is held by first-term Democrat Jerica Richardson, who now lives inside District 3. She would have to move into District 2 by the end of the year if she seeks re-election in 2024.)
Christine Triebsch is the sole Democratic candidate to qualify for District 3. She’s an attorney and a former State Senate candidate.
Reapportionment also reduced East Cobb representation on the Cobb Board of Education to two members.
One of them, current chairman David Chastain, has qualified as a Republican in his bid for a fourth term from Post 4, which includes the Kell, Sprayberry and Lassiter high school clusters.
A Wheeler High School graduate, Chastain is a proposal analyst for Lockheed Martin.
The only other candidate to qualify for Post 4 is Democrat Catherine Pozniak, an educational consultant and Sprayberry High School graduate (previous story here).
Post 6 has included the Walton and Wheeler clusters and since 2019 has been represented by Democrat Charisse Davis.
But the East Cobb portion of that seat was redrawn and includes the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area. Davis did not qualify; the only candidate filing for Post 6 is Nichelle Davis, an educational equity advocate and a former Teach for America teacher.
Legislative incumbents opposed
There will be contested primaries in two State Senate seats that include East Cobb.
Republican incumbent Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick has qualified in District 32, which includes some of East Cobb and parts of Cherokee County. A Woodstock State House member, Republican Charlise Byrd, had announced for the seat, but qualified instead to retain her District 20 seat.
The other GOP candidate is Andy Soha, who lists himself as self-employed. The only Democrat seeking that seat is Sylvia Bennett, a social worker.
In State Senate 6, the GOP primary field includes financial advisor Fred Glass and Angelic Moore of Atlanta, who owns a business and political consulting company.
The Democratic primary includes Luisa Wakeman, who twice ran for a State House seat in East Cobb, and former Atlanta school board chairman Jason Esteves.
State Rep. Sharon Cooper, a 25-year legislative veteran and the chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, has qualified in State House District 45. Her GOP primary opponent will be Carminthia Moore, a program manager who’s active with the Cobb Republican Party.
The only Democrat to qualify is Dustin McCormick, who’s also running in an April 5 special election to fill the unexpired term of former State Rep. Matt Dollar (previous story here).
In District 43, a Democratic primary will have restaurant owner Solomon Adesonya and attorney Benjamin Stahl. The winner will face geologist Anna Tillman, a Republican, in November.
East Cobb Republican incumbent House members Don Parsons (District 44) and John Carson (District 46) also qualified, and will have Democratic opposition in the general election.
Democratic incumbent Mary Frances Williams of Distict 37 will have a Republican opponent in Tess Redding.
Crowded federal, state races
The East Cobb area will be represented in the U.S. House in two seats following reapportionment.
In District 11, GOP incumbent Barry Loudermilk has qualified, and he will have a Democratic foe in the fall.
The redrawn District 6 includes much of East Cobb and stretches into North Fulton, Forsyth and Dawson counties.
The Republican field has nine candidates who have qualified:
- Jake Evans, attorney
- Byron Gatewood, self-employed
- Megan Hanson, attorney
- Blake Harbin, business owner
- Rich McCormick, emergency room physician
- Paulette Smith, retired business executive
- Mallory Staples, former teacher, homeschooler and small business owner
- Suzi Voyles, consultant
- Eugene Yu, retired
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock
The two Democrats running in the 6th District are business owner Bob Christian and international development consultant Wayne White.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who was elected in 2020 to fill the remaining two years of the late Johnny Isakson’s term, will be seeking a six-year term. He has an opponent in the Democratic primary, and five Republicans also are running.
They include current Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black and former UGA football great Herschel Walker.
Gov. Brian Kemp qualified for re-election Thursday in the Republican primary, which includes former U.S. Sen David Perdue and two others.
One of them is Kandiss Taylor of Baxley, Ga., an educator who has been campaigning with a slogan of “Help Me Save Georgia! Jesus, Guns and Babies.”
Former legislator Stacey Abrams, who lost to Kemp in 2018, is running for governor again and also has a Democratic primary opponent.
Four Republicans and 10 Democrats are vying for lieutenant governor after incumbent Republican Geoff Duncan decided not to run again.
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is being opposed in the primary by David Belle Isle, whom he defeated in 2018, and Congressman Jodi Hice.
Incumbent Republican Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods is getting a primary challenge from John Barge, his predecessor.
On the Democratic side, current Cobb school board member Jaha Howard is one of four candidates in the field.
Cobb Chief Judge challenged
Those running for judgeships in Cobb County are in non-partisan elections.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris qualified without opposition. Current Chief Judge Robert Leonard, who has been on the bench since 2010, has two primary opponents in Charles Ford, a public defender in Fulton County, and private attorney Matt McMaster.
Judge Robert Flournoy is retiring from Superior Court and five candidates have qualified:
- Sonja Brown, Cobb Magistrate judge
- Daniele Johnson, private attorney
- James Luttrell, private attorney
- Taneesha Marshall, regional counsel, Federal Aviation Administration
- Gerald Moore, private attorney
Cobb State Court incumbent judges Ashley Palmer, Bridgette Campbell Glenn, Jason Fincher and Eric Brewton have qualified without opposition.
Cobb Solicitor Barry Morgan is retiring, with two Democrats and one Republican qualifying in the race to succeed him.
Primary runoffs are scheduled for June 21.
For more local information, including absentee voting, voter registration, maps and an elections calendar, visit the Cobb Elections website.
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