Cobb County’s 2019 odd-year municipal elections took place on Tuesday. The Cobb County Courier has been covering them regularly (click here for all our coverage), but here’s a handy summary of Tuesday’s results.
Acworth
Acworth is unusual among city governments in Cobb County. Rather than have their elections supervised by the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration, Acworth manages their own elections.
According to the unofficial results posted on the Acworth website, incumbents were the clear winners in Acworth’s city council elections.
Albert “Butch” Price, the incumbent Alderman in Post 1, defeated challenger Crystal Bailey Williams by a vote of 647 to 284.
Incumbent Post 2 Alderman Gene Pugliese ran unopposed.
Post 3 incumbent Alderman Brett North fended off challenger Salome W. Sadera in a 658 to 275 vote.
Austell
Ollie Clemons won his first full term as mayor, and without a runoff, despite three challengers. garnering slightly over 54 percent of the vote.
Chris Djonis came in second at 19.23 percent, Ikaika Anderson in third at 17 percent, and Cindy Thompson fourth at 9.73 percent.
Clemons was Mayor Pro Tem when longtime mayor Joe Jerkins retired due to health reasons.
In Austell’s city council races, Devon Myrick is the winner in Ward 2 over Shontae Brown, and Melanie Maria Elder defeated Sarah Shurden in the At Large Post 1 race.
Valerie Anderson (At Large Post 2) and Sandra Leverette (Ward 4) were unopposed.
Kennesaw
There was only one contested race in Kennesaw, City Council At Large Post 1, and incumbent James “Doc” Eaton defeated his opponents Antonio Jones and Karen Gitau with 55.39 percent of the vote, avoiding a run-off.
Mayor Derek Easterling and Tracey Viars (At Large Post 2) ran unopposed.
Powder Springs
It was a good day for incumbents in Powder Springs as well.
Incumbent Patrick Wayne Bordelon (Post 1) got 52 percent of the vote against challenger Larry W. Thomas.
In the At Large Post 2 contest incumbent Patricia Wisdom fended off challengers Nancy Hudson and Guenevere Reed with 58 percent of the vote, avoiding a run-off.
Powder Springs Mayor Albert Thurman ran unopposed.
Smyrna
It was an exciting election day in Smyrna, where the city is guaranteed a new mayor after the decision by longtime Mayor Max Bacon not to seek another term.
The mayoral race will go to a December 3 runoff, since front-runner Derek Norton fell short of 50 percent. He’ll face second-place candidate Ryan Campbell.
In other big news, two incumbents were defeated.
Travis Lindley defeated incumbent Maryline Blackburn in the Ward 3 council race. Blackburn was seeking her second term.
In an absolute squeaker of a race, challenger Austin Wagner defeated incumbent Andrea Blustein for the Ward 2 seat by a two vote margin, 341 to 339.
In the Ward 7 race, which was an open contest after Councilman Ron Fennel announced his decision not to seek reelection, Georgia Tech professor Lewis Wheaton defeated David Monroe.
In the Ward 5 race incumbent Susan Wilkinson fended off challengers Suz Kaprich and James “JD” Smith, garnering 51.81 percent of the vote, avoiding a runoff.
Glenn Pickens in Ward 1, Charles “Corkey” Welch in Ward 4, and Tim Gould in Ward 6 all ran unopposed.
