Fulton County District 4 commissioner Natalie Hall, who’s respected for her hands-on approach to public service but has been rocked by scandal, is facing a tough reelection challenge against Mo Ivory, a Georgia State University law professor and popular media personality.
Because there is no Republican candidate, the winner of the June 18 Democratic primary runoff election will secure the county commission post.
Hall finished first in the May 21 Democratic primary, winning 41.6% of the vote to Ivory’s 40.6%. That triggered the runoff, since neither won an outright majority. Third-place finisher Sonya Ofchus, who received 17.8% of the vote, has endorsed Ivory for the runoff.
Both candidates have attracted an impressive roster of endorsements. That said, Ivory has out-fundraised Hall, raising nearly $120,000 compared with just under $40,000 for Hall through April 30, according to the most recently available disclosures.
Challenger Mo Ivory, left, is a Georgia State law professor. Natalie Hall, right, is the incumbent District 4 commissioner.
Strong support for both candidates
Ivory boasts the support of two-time gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, longtime state Sen. Nan Orrock (D–Atlanta), the Georgia Equality PAC — an LGBTQ advocacy group, and the Atlanta Realtors Association.
Hall also has attracted support from a broad-based range of Atlanta politicos. That includes endorsements from: Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis; Fulton Sheriff Pat Labat; Fulton Solicitor Keith Gammage; fellow Fulton commissioners Dana Barrett and Marvin Arrington Jr.; Atlanta City Councilmembers Antonio Lewis, Michael Julian Bond and Jason Dozier; and Atlanta School Board members Alfred “Shivy” Brooks and Aretta Baldon.
Several former Fulton elected officials also support her, as well as former President Jimmy Carter’s U.N. Ambassador and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and the Federation of Public Service Employees.
A scandal to overcome
Besides being massively outspent, Hall faces a significant PR disadvantage. Her former chief of staff, Calvin Brock, filed an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint against Hall for sex discrimination, claiming she fired him after their romantic relationship ended. In January, Fulton paid Brock a $920,000 settlement to resolve the matter. Fulton’s county commission subsequently voted to slash $200,000 from Hall’s commissioner operating budget to offset the cost to taxpayers.
This, says Ivory, is reason enough not to entrust Hall with a second four-year term. “I ran in order to bring ethical, fresh, new leadership to the district,” she told Atlanta Civic Circle, adding that she wants “to make sure that we don’t have another situation where one of our elected officials is costing the taxpayers a million dollars.”
But Hall’s supporters say otherwise. One of Hall’s city council endorsers, Lewis, said Hall has been subjected to unfair scrutiny over the dispute with Brock because she is a woman.
The Atlanta councilmember likened the situation to the imbroglio in the Fulton District Attorney’s Office over Willis’s relationship with Nathan Wade, whom she hired as special prosecutor for the Trump RICO case. The extra expenses from replacing Wade on the case and time in court spent litigating whether Willis ought to be disqualified from the case, Lewis argued, will likely cost taxpayers more. (Willis handily won her own reelection in the May 21 Democratic primary.)
“It’s a shame that it’s a huge deal in this election,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of sexism, he added. “It’s a shame, because of how good of a job our commissioner has done.”
Hall declined to speak to Atlanta Civic Circle for this story, but offered campaign materials highlighting her accomplishments and endorsements. In the materials, the Fulton commissioner points to helping to balance the county budget and secure funding to keep Grady Memorial Hospital open as important accomplishments over her four-year tenure.
Hall: New crisis center to open
For Lewis, Hall wins points for competence and hard work. “I think we got somebody who’s been trained, who’s thorough, and whom we know will show up” Hall said. “The new candidate — as a city council person whom I consider to be everywhere, I have yet to meet her.”
Lewis also thinks that Hall is more progressive than Ivory. Thanks to Hall’s efforts, he said, Fulton is gaining its first public drug and mental health crisis center that will be open 24/7 for people in distress. The county commission allocated the initial $15 million in funding for the 24-bed behavioral health crisis center to prevent deaths from opioid overdoses and suicide. Located at 2805 Metropolitan Pkwy, SW, it is expected to open later this year.
Ivory: Hospital, health care clinics – and Fulton jail
Ivory told Atlanta Civic Circle that one of her top priorities as a commissioner would be bringing a new hospital to the county and adding health clinics in South Fulton.
“We need another hospital. With the closure of Atlanta Medical Center and with the closure of clinics all across the district, we need adequate health care services, and we don’t have them,” she said.
“I’m going to be working specifically to examine the proposals on the table for a new hospital for emergency care and for the opening of clinics in the southern part of the district,” Ivory added.
With the sheriff, the county commission has oversight for the overcrowded and dangerous Fulton Jail, located at 901 Rice Street, NW. At least 24 people died while incarcerated at the jail in 2022 and 2023, and three people have already died this year. The deaths prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into conditions at the jail almost a year ago.
Ivory said there’s not “one fix” to the jail’s deadly conditions, which she described as having “many layers.”
“I plan to dig in and understand all of those layers, so that I can make an informed decision about how I would want to vote on that moving forward. It is one of the biggest issues, one that the commission right now has not been able to resolve,” she said.
Early voting for the Fulton runoff elections ends Friday. Election Day is Tuesday, June 18, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voters who selected a Republican ballot in the May 21 primary aren’t eligible to vote in the Democratic primary runoff elections – and vice versa. Registered voters who cast a nonpartisan ballot or who didn’t vote on May 21 can vote in the runoffs.