On Tuesday voters will be going to the polls in midterms that have spiked interest across the country, and close to home. This East Cobb Election Day post rounds up everything we’ve put together before you head to your precinct and contains some late news from Monday as campaigning drew to a close.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at all precincts.
EAST COBB ELECTION GUIDE
In East Cobb, there’s a full slate of competitive races that is rare for a community that’s been strong Republican territory for years.
Every elected official who represents East Cobb—federal, state and local—is in the GOP, but there are Democrats in all of the 10 state and local races on Tuesday’s ballot.
All of the Democrats are women, many of them minorities. Nine of them are first-time candidates, some reacting to Donald Trump’s presidential election and energized by Jon Ossoff’s Congressional campaign.
With plenty of midterm prognostications focused on suburban voting, the results from East Cobb figure to be closely watched.
On Monday, some national polls declared the 6th Congressional District race that includes East Cobba toss-up, including the Cook Political Report and The New York Times.
Republican incumbent Karen Handel (left), who defeated Democrat Ossoff in a special election last year, is facing Democrat Lucy McBath (right), a high-profile gun-gun control advocate, in a race that could help determine party control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Handel had been holding a slight lead within the margin of error. When she defeated Ossoff last year, Handel got some of her strongest margins in East Cobb. The district also includes north Fulton, Sandy Springs, and north and central DeKalb.
Republicans are trying to hold on to their majority in the House, and are expected to lose seats. The 6th Congressional District of Georgia has been in GOP control since 1979, when Newt Gingrich was first elected.
The Georgia governor’s race also is expected to be close and is seen as sparking early voter turnout.
Democrat Stacey Abrams has drawn virtually even with Republican Brian Kemp, and Cobb County is seen as battleground turf. The possibility of a runoff looms with Libertarian candidate Ted Metz on the ballot.
The politicking also has gotten ugly, with Kemp, the current Secretary of State, accusing the Georgia Democratic Party of trying to hack the state elections system.
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At the local level, there’s a Cobb Board of Commissioners race and two Cobb Board of Education races for East Cobb voters to decide.
District 3 Republican incumbent commissioner JoAnn Birrell is being challenged by Caroline Holko for a seat that includes Northeast Cobb.
For the Cobb school board Post 6 race, which includes the Walton and Wheeler attendance zones, two-term incumbent Scott Sweeney will face Charisse Davis. In Post 4 (Kell and Sprayberry), David Chastain is vying for a second term against Cynthia Parr.
East Cobb’s legislative delegation, which typically doesn’t generate much general election competition, has it this year.
One State Senate race and five State House races will be determined on Tuesday as well.
Early voting has been at a record pace in Cobb and Georgia. Cobb government said Monday that the nearly 135,000 people who have voted early make up around 27 percent of al the registered voters in the county.
There is the threat of stormy weather Tuesday, and rain could last for most of the day.
Cobb government said late this afternoon that:
“If voting is delayed due to weather, the Elections Office will ask a judge to extend voting past 7 pm for the length of time they had to shut down.”
We will post more about this as weather updates become available during the day.
East Cobb News will provide continuing coverage all day and evening on Tuesday.
We’ll also be sending out a special election newsletter first thing Wednesday morning, since it figures to be a long night.
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