Special Election Held To Fill Late Congressman John Lewis’ Seat

ATLANTA, GA — Polls opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday for voters. The special election will decide who should fill the late Congressman John Lewis' seat whose term doesn’t end until Jan. 3.

Find your voting location here.

Fulton County election officials told WSB they’re prepared with better trained poll workers, a technician at each polling site, and more polling places.

This race is separate from the one in November for a full two-year term in Lewis’ former district.

District 5 special election candidates are:

• Robert Franklin, Democrat, former president of Morehouse College and theology professor at Emory University, franklinforcongress2020.com
• Kwanza Hall, Democrat, is a former Atlanta city councilman, kwanzahall.com
• Barrington Martin II, Democrat, an educator who unsuccessfully challenged Lewis in the June primary, votethedream.com
• Steven Muhammad, Independent, a minister and community activist, muhammadforcongress.org
• Chase Oliver, Libertarian, customer service specialist, chaseforhouse.com
• “Able” Mable Thomas, Democrat, state representative for district 56 and former member of the Atlanta City Council, ablemable.com
• Keisha Sean Waites, Democrat, former state representative, keishawaites.com

Lewis died on July 17, seven months after he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old. Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush attended the funeral for Rep. John Lewis in Atlanta.

He served as Georgia's 5th congressional district representative for more than 30 years. His death marks the passing of the mantle of the civil rights movement from a generation that defeated the discriminatory and segregationist policies of the Jim Crow era in America's Deep South.