2021 Atlanta and Georgia runoff elections guide
A voter enters Jackson Memorial Baptist Church to cast her vote during municipal elections in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. A bill advancing in the Georgia House would ban outside funding for elections like a $2 million grant that the heavily Democratic suburban county accepted early in 2023. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)
This year’s runoff elections will take place on Nov. 30. Runoff elections occur when no candidate in a race receives more than 50% of the votes cast. The race for Atlanta’s next mayor isn’t the only contest headed to a runoff, as there are several other mayoral, city council and school board elections across the metro area.
Atlanta Mayor
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms did not run for re-election this year and her current term will end in January 2022. Because no candidate received at least 50% of the vote in the Nov. 2 election, a runoff election will occur to elect the next mayor. City Council President Felicia Moore and Councilmember Andre Dickens will face off in the Nov. 30 runoff to succeed Bottoms as mayor of the city.
Moore won 40.8% of the nonpartisan vote. Her time serving on the council began in 1997 and she was elected council president in 2017.
Dickens, who won 23% of the vote, has served on the council since his election in 2013 to represent the city’s third at-large post, and was re-elected in 2017. He narrowly edged out former Mayor Kasim Reed to clinch his position in the runoffs. Reed, who served as mayor of Atlanta from 2010-2018, received 22.4% of the vote.
Atlanta City Council
In the race for City Council President, Natalyn Archibong received the most votes. She currently represents District 5 of the Atlanta City Council. Running against her is Doug Shipman, who has not served in a public office, but is known for being the founding CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta.
In the race for City Council Post 3 at-Large, Jacki Labat will face off against Keisha Sean Waites. Waites is a former Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives, where she represented District 60 from 2012-2017.
In the race for City Council District 1, Jason Winston and Nathan Clubb will be on the ballot. Clubb previously ran for office in the Iowa House of Representatives, but neither he nor Winston have held public office. Carla Smith currently represents District 1, which spans southern and eastern portions of Atlanta. She is not running for re-election.
In the race for City Council District 3 is a former member of the Atlanta Public Schools board, Byron Amos. Candidate Erika Estrada received the second-most votes and is running against Amos in the runoff election. Antonio Brown, who currently represents the district, was an Atlanta mayoral candidate this year but received just 4.7% of the votes. District 3 covers western portions of the city.
In the race for City Council District 4, incumbent Cleta Winslow is running for re-election against Jason Dozier, who was defeated by Winslow in the race for the council seat in 2017. District 4 represents west and southwest portions of the city.
In the race for City Council District 5, Liliana Bakhtiari, who received 49.5% of the votes, is running against Mandy Mahoney. In 2017, Bahktiari was defeated in the race for the council position by incumbent Natalyn Mosby Archibong, who is currently running for council president. District 5 covers sections of downtown and east Atlanta.
In the race for City Council District 12, incumbent Joyce Sheperd narrowly edged out Antonio Lewis in the general election but did not get more than 50% of the vote. Sheperd has served as a councilmember since 2004. Lewis was a Democratic candidate for the Georgia House of Representatives in 2012. The southernmost portions of the city are part of District 12.
Atlanta School Board
All nine board seats were on the ballot in the Nov. 2 general election. Seats for District 2 and at-Large Seat 7 will advance to a runoff on Nov. 30.
In the race for District 2, incumbent Aretta Baldon and Keisha Carey will face each other. In the race for at-Large Seat 7, Tamara Jones and KaCey Venning will face each other.
Other Runoffs Across Metro Atlanta
There are several races in cities throughout Fulton County. The incumbent Elizabeth Carr-Hurst faces Mario Avery in the Fairburn mayoral race. In Milton, Jami Tucker faces Andrea Verhoff in the race for the City Council District 1, Post 1 spot.
In the city of South Fulton, Khalid Kamau faces the incumbent Bill Edwards in the mayoral race. Kamau would become the city’s first openly LGBTQ mayor if elected. The incumbent Naeema Gilyard faces Jaceey Sebastian in the City Council District 4 race. On the opposite side of Fulton County, Michael Dal Cerro faces Will Morthland in the Roswell City Council Post 5 race.
There are two runoffs in DeKalb County. The incumbent Jimmy Clanton faces Tara Graves for the District 1 seat on the Stonecrest City Council and Imani Barnes faces Cara Schroeder for the Tucker City Council District 2 seat. Barnes would be the first Black and first openly LGBTQ member of the Tucker City Council if elected.
There are also runoffs scattered across Clayton, Cobb, Fayette and Gwinnett on Nov. 30. The incumbent Angelyne Butler faces Thomas Smith in the Forest Park mayoral race. In Marietta, the incumbent Reginald Copeland will face Carlyle Kent in the City Council Ward 5 race.
In Peachtree City, Kim Learnard faces Eric Imker in the mayoral race and Phil Crane faces Frank Destadio in the City Council Post 4 race. In Duluth, Manfred Graeder squares off against Brandon Odum in the runoff for the City Council Post 4 seat. And in Suwanee, the incumbent Pete Charpentier faces off against David Martinez for the City Council Post 5 spot.
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