Metro Atlanta voters select school board members; some races end in playoffs

Incumbents mostly did well, securing their seats or a place in a runoff or November election. However, two Republican members of the Forsyth County Board of Supervisors were defeated in the primaries.

Many races passed without drama, such as in Cherokee and Clayton counties where incumbents ran unopposed for their seats.

Cobb County

Cobb voters saw no competitive primary for school board. Their decision day will come in November, when they will choose between incumbent Republican Randy Scamihorn and Democrat Vickie H. W. Benson in Position 1, Republican John H. Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge in Position 5, and incumbent Republican Brad Wheeler and Democrat Andrew Cole in position 7.

The banks in place at position 5 have been in office for 16 years.

Leroy “Tre’” Hutchins, the Democratic incumbent who represents Position 3, will not have an opponent in November.

Candidates are running this year under a new map in Cobb, passed by the Georgia Legislature following ongoing litigation over whether the previous map discriminated against people of color. The Republican-backed map is similar to the one used in the 2022 election.

DeKalb County

The DeKalb school board, which holds nonpartisan elections, will have three new faces to replace incumbents who did not seek re-election.

Andrew Ziffer will be the new representative for District 1, the seat occupied by Anna Hill. He beat Austin McDonald. Deirdre Pierce was re-elected in District 3 against Deidra Wright.

The District 5 seat held by incumbent board member Turner is headed to a runoff between Tiffany Tate Hogan and Donna Priest-Brown. Manus Bernard Caldwell Jr. and Telessa Ammons also ran for the seat.

Awet “Howard” Eyasu was the only candidate to run for Morley’s District 7 seat.

Forsyth County

Two Forsyth Republicans will be unseated, both losing their primary matchups.

Trisha Hoyes defeated District 2’s Lindsey Adams. Hoyes will face Democrat Jessica Fleming.

In District 3, Dorian Usherwood won the nomination over incumbent Tom Cleveland. Usherwood will face Democrat Debbie Stair.

Voters in District 4 did not see a competitive primary. Their choice will be between Democrat Claudia Wood and Republican Chris Grimes.

Fulton County

Sara Gillespie defeated Lyndsey Coates to succeed Stuart in District 1. Incumbent Katie Gregory defeated Mustafa Karadeniz in District 3.

Incumbent Franchesca Warren will serve another term in District 4. She initially faced a challenger, but Stefani Carreras of Beck withdrew from the race.

The races are non-partisan.

Gwinnett County

The makeup of the school board in Georgia’s largest school district became clearer Tuesday, but it has not been finalized. As of press time, 137 of 156 precincts have reported complete results.

Gwinnett school board races are nonpartisan.

District 1 incumbent Karen Watkins, board vice president, finished first in her race and is headed to a runoff. She will likely face Rachel Stone. Leroy Ranel Jr. finished third, not far behind Stone.

District 3 is also headed to a runoff. Steve Gasper received the most votes out of five. Shana V. White appeared to narrowly edge out Domonique Cooper for the other spot in the second round. Voters also considered Yanin Cortes and Anthony Mulkey.

Tarece Johnson-Morgan will serve a second term on the board, winning a majority in District 5 over Patrina King and Jacquelyn Evenezer-Gold.

Henry County

District 1 incumbent Pam Nutt won her seat Tuesday, winning a majority of votes over four candidates. The challengers were Earlene Crump, John H. Dewberry and Cassandra Norsworthy.

In District 3, Jennifer Gardner Carter defeated Larry Bryant.

District 5 incumbent McKenzie McDaniel will retain her seat, earning a majority of the vote over Sheri Mimbs and Gewel Richardson.

The races are non-partisan.

Paulding County

Incumbent Jeff Fuller secured a spot on the November ballot for his At-Large seat, defeating Shannon Price in the Republican primary. He will face Democrat Sasha Johnson, who beat Cynthia Starke-Jones.

Other county races were uncompetitive. District 1 incumbent Theresa Lyons, a Republican, will face Democrat Nina Williams. District 3 incumbent Adam Clayton, a Republican, will face Democrat Antoinette Richards. Republican Deborah Collett faces no challenger for her District 4 seat.

Staff writers Cassidy Alexander, Martha Dalton and Leon Stafford contributed to this article.