Qualifying Produces Contested Races In Fulton County

ATLANTA, GA — Qualifying has come to an end for Fulton County candidates looking to make their mark at the county, state and federal level, and there will be no shortage of contested races on the ballot this year.

The qualifying period ended at noon Friday, March 9, and several races on the ballot will be up for grabs either for the May 22 general primary/nonpartisan election or the Nov. 6 general election (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here).

The most notable race that will grab headlines is the 6th Congressional District race featuring incumbent Republican Karen Handel. Four Democrats — Kevin Abel, Lucy McBath, Steven Knight Griffin and Bobby Kaple — will run in the May 22 primary with the hopes of getting enough votes to face Handel in the Nov. 6 general election. The 6th Congressional District includes all of North Fulton County and parts of DeKalb and East Cobb counties.

Another federal race — the 11th Congressional District — will include incumbent Republican Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville) battling Democrat Flynn Broady, Jr. for the seat, which covers all of Bartow and Cherokee County, parts of Cobb and North Fulton counties.

Voters across Fulton County will also consider whether to stick with incumbent Robb Pitts or allow his primary challenger, Keisha Waites, to become the Democratic chairman for the County Commission. They will face off in the May 22 primary and since there are no Republican contenders, the winner will become the new chair. County Commissioners Liz Hausmann of District 1, Lee Morris of District 3 and Marvin Arrington, Jr. of District 5 are all running unopposed.

School Board District 2 incumbent Katie Reeves will face Tom Pemble while District 5 member Linda McCain and Julia Bernath of District 7 will run unopposed in the May 22 election for nonpartisan races. District 6 incumbent Kimberly Dove will face Latonya Rogers. State Court judges Jay Roth and Eric Richardson are also running unopposed, but Chief Magistrate Judge Cassandra Kirk will face challenger Louis Levenson. Those races are also nonpartisan.

For the State House and Senate races, a slew of candidates and challengers have lined up to qualify this week:

Senate District 6 (Cobb and Sandy Springs)

Leah Aldridge (challenger), Republican

Jen Jordan (incumbent), Democrat

Jamie Parrish (challenger), Republican

John Gordon (challenger), Republican

Senate District 32 (East Cobb and parts of Sandy Springs)

Kay Kirkpatrick (incumbent), Republican

Christine Triesbsch (challenger), Democrat

Senate District 40 (Dunwoody and parts of Sandy Springs)

Fran Millar (incumbent), Republican

Sally Harrell (challenger), Democrat

Tamara Johnson-Shealey (challenger), Democrat

Senate District 56 (Roswell, Sandy Springs)

John Albers (incumbent), Republican

Patrick Thompson (challenger), Democrat

Ellyn Jeager (challenger), Democrat

Jim Guess. Jr. (challenger), Democrat

House District 45 (parts of Sandy Springs)

Matt Dollar (incumbent), Republican

Essence Johnson (challenger), Democrat

House District 47 (Milton)

Jan Jones (incumbent), Republican

Andrea Nugent (challenger), Democrat

House District 48 (Roswell)

Betty Price (incumbent), Republican

Jere Wood (challenger), Republican

Mary Robichaux (challenger), Democrat

House District 49 (Alpharetta)

Chuck Martin (incumbent), Republican

Luanne Taylor (challenger), Independent

Wesley Randall (challenger), Democrat

Krishan Bralley (challenger), Democrat

House District 50 (Johns Creek; vacant)

Angelika Kausche, Democrat

Kelly Stewart, Republican

Gaurav Phadke, Democrat

Douglas Chanco, Republican

House District 51 (Sandy Springs, Roswell and Johns Creek)

Alex Kaufman, Republican

Josh McLaurin, Democrat

House District 52 (Sandy Springs)

Deborah Silcox (incumbent), Republican

Gavi Shapiro (challenger), Republican

Shea Roberts (challenger), Democrat

House District 80 (Brookhaven and parts of Sandy Springs)

Meagan Hanson (incumbent), Republican

Matthew Wilson (challenger), Democrat

Atlanta Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judges Jane Barwick, Christopher Brasher, Kelly Lee Ellerbe, Craig Schwall Jr., Paige Whitaker and Robert C.I. McBurney all qualified for re-election to those nonpartisan posts and face no opposition. Three candidates — Bobby Wolf, Fran Willis and Kevin Farmer — have all qualified to replace incumbent Tom Campbell, who did not qualify to seek re-election.

The last day to register to vote in the May 22 primary is April 24 while the deadline to register for the Nov. 6 election is Oct. 9. Early voting in Fulton County will run from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, April 30 to Friday, May 18. Saturday voting, May 5 and May 12, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. while voting on Sunday, May 6 is scheduled for noon to 5 p.m. Early voting locations can be found here.

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