Five Atlanta races — three Board of Education seats plus city council Districts 7 and 11 — are headed to a Dec. 2 runoff after Atlanta’s Nov. 4 municipal elections, because no single candidate secured more than half the vote.
While these races are nonpartisan, candidates are jockeying for key endorsements that could sway voters from local civic leaders, political advocacy groups, and unions.
To help inform your vote, here’s the runoff edition of our 2025 municipal elections endorsement tracker.
Atlanta Board of Education
Three of the four Atlanta Board of Education races are headed to runoffs. Only District 4 incumbent Jennifer McDonald won her race outright, defeating Sanjay Mendonca.
District 2
This open seat drew three candidates, Marlissa Crawford, Tony Mitchell, and Stephen Owens, after school board member Aretta Baldon announced she wasn’t running for reelection. Crawford and Mitchell advanced to a runoff.
Mitchell is endorsed by:
- District 11 Councilmember and City Council President-elect Marci Collier Overstreet
- Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens
- District 4 Councilmember Jason Dozier
- Outgoing District 2 school board member Baldon
- The Collective PAC
- Equity in Education
Crawford reports no endorsements so far.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Atlanta chapter had recommended Owens. The group has not yet issued a new recommendation. The DSA recommends whom they view to be the least worst candidate. A DSA endorsement indicates the group’s full support.
District 6
Incumbent Tolton Pace, appointed in January, faced four challengers for the remainder of the seat’s four-year term: Michael Hopkins, Patreece Hutcherson, Jonathan Leon, and Tyrese Miller.
Pace and Hutcherson advanced to a runoff.
Pace is endorsed by:
- Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens
- Atlanta City Councilmember Eshé Collins (Post 3, At-Large), Collins previously held Pace’s seat.
- Atlanta City Councilmember Matt Westmoreland (Post 2, At-Large)
- State Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D-Atlanta)
- State Rep. Phil Olaleye (D-Atlanta)
Hutcherson is endorsed by:
- Her Term, a group that recruits progressive women to run for office
- Noël Heatherland, Statewide Organizing Manager for Georgia Equality
- Former Atlanta City Council District 11 candidates Steven Dingle, Keith Lewis
- Richard Ramey, 2025 Atlanta Pride Parade Grand Marshal
- Is recommended by the DSA Atlanta chapter
Leon had racked up endorsements from the Georgia Working Families Party (WFP), Equity in Education, The Black Slate, and the Atlanta North-Georgia Labor Council (AFL-CIO). Whom those groups decide to support for the runoff may be significant.
Seat 8, At-Large
This open seat attracted three challengers, Kaycee Brock, Royce Mann, and Aisha Stith, after Cynthia Briscoe Brown decided not to run for reelection. Brock and Mann advanced to a runoff.
Brock is endorsed by:
- Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens
- District 4 Councilmember Jason Dozier
- District 10 Councilmember Andrea Boone
- Atlanta City Councilmember Matt Westmoreland (Post 2, At-Large)
- Fulton County Commissionner Dana Barrett (District 3)
- State Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D-Atlanta)
- State Sen. Sonya Halpern (D-Atlanta
- Andrew Young, the former UN ambassador and Atlanta mayor
- Equity in Education
- Georgia Men For Democracy Now
- Former APS Board Member Leslie Grant
Mann has received numerous endorsements, notably from:
- Former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin
- Former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes
- District 2 Councilmember-elect Kelsea Bond
- District 12 Councilmember Antonio Lewis
- District 5 Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari
- Post 1, At-Large Councilmember Michael Julian Bond
- State Rep. Gabriel Sanchez (D-Smyrna)
- State Rep. Bryce Berry (D-Atlanta)
- State Rep. Park Cannon (D-Atlanta)
- State Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta)
- State Rep. Eric Bell (D-Jonesboro)
- State Sen. Sally Harrell (D-Atlanta)
- DeKalb Commissioner Ted Terry (Super District 6)
- US Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Atlanta)
- Otha Thornton, 53rd National PTA President
- Civil rights leader Charles A. Black
- Tarece Johnson-Morgan, vice chair of the Gwinnett County Board of Education
- Former Atlanta City Council president Felicia Moore
- Former Atlanta City Council president Cathy Woolard
- Former District 11 City Council candidates Steven Dingle, Curt Collier and Keith Lewis
- Former Georgia NAACP President James “Major” Woods
- Georgia Working Families Party
- Run For Something
- College Democrats of America
- Democratic Municipal Officials
- American Federation of Teachers
- Georgia Federation of Teachers
- Mom’s Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate recognition
- And a recommendation from the DSA Atlanta chapter
Atlanta City Council
Only two Atlanta City Council races, Districts 7 and 11, are headed to a runoff. Both were open seats. Kelsea Bond won the third open seat outright for District 2. Of the remaining 12 city council seats, seven were uncontested and incumbents prevailed in the other five races.
District 7
This seat opened up when longtime Councilmember Howard Shook decided to retire. Thad Flowers and Thomas Worthy advanced to the Dec. 2 runoff, finishing ahead of: Jamie Christy, Allen Daly, and Rebecca King.
Flowers is endorsed by:
- US Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA)
- Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
- LGBTQ+ Victory Fund
- Peach Power PAC
- New Politics
- The PAC for Georgia’s Youth
- Fulton County Democrats
- International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 77
- And recommended by the DSA Atlanta chapter
Worthy is endorsed by:
- Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens
- Outgoing District 7 Councilmember Howard Shook
- Post 2, At-Large Councilmember Matt Westmoreland
- State Sen. Sonya Halpern (D-Atlanta)
- State Rep. Betsy Holland (D-Atlanta)
- Atlanta Professional Firefighters IAFF. Local 134
- International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local Chapter 623
- Abundant Housing Atlanta
- Thread ATL
- Sierra Club
- Better Community PAC
- Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate
- Georgia Men for Democracy Now PAC
- Georgia Conservation Voters
District 11
This seat opened up because District 11 Councilmember Marci Collier Overstreet ran for city council president, beating Rohit Malhotra on Nov. 4.Eight candidates ultimately qualified to run, making it the most crowded field of any Atlanta race.
Nate Jester and Wayne Martin were the top two finishers, besting Toni Belin-Ingram, Andre Burgin, Curt Collier, Steven Dingle, Harold Hardnett, and Reginald Rushin.
Jester is endorsed by:
- Former District 11 opponents Andre Burgin, Steven Dingle, Toni Belin-Ingram, and Reginald Rushin, along with Keith Lewis and Sherry Williams, who were both disqualified before the Nov. 4 election.
- Atlanta City Councilmember Eshé Collins (Post 3, At-Large), Collins is a District 11 resident
- Atlanta City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari (District 5)
- Atltanta City Councilmember Jason Dozier (District 4)
- Atlanta City Councilmember Antonio Lewis (District 12)
- Brionté McCorkle, Executive Director of Georgia Conservation Voters.
- State Rep. Omari Crawford (D-Decatur)
- State Sen. Kenya Wicks (D-Fayette)
- State Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D-Atlanta)
- Newport News Mayor Philip Jones
- Georgia Working Families Party
- Georgia Conservation Voters
- Vote Vets
- Run for Something
- Abundant Housing Atlanta
- Thread ATL
- International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 161
- Sierra Club
- Progressive Change Campaign Committee
- Westside Farmers Market and Fickett Farmers Market
- The PAC for Georgia’s Youth
- And recommended by the DSA Atlanta chapter
Martin is endorsed by:
- Former District 11 opponent Curt Collier.
- Atlanta City Council President-elect Marci Collier Overstreet
- Atlanta City Council member Andrea Boone (District 10)
- Atlanta City Councilmember Matt Westmoreland (Post 2 At-Large)
- Atlanta City Councilmember Michael Julian Bond (Post 1 At-Large)
- Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens
- Fulton County Commissionner Marvin S. Arrington
- US Congresswoman Lucy McBath (D-GA)
- US Congresswoman Nikema Williams (D-GA)
- Union City Mayor Vince Williams
- State Rep. El-Mahdi Holly (D-Stockbridge)
- State Sen. Sonya Halpern (D-Atlanta)
- State Rep. Inga Willis (D-Atlanta)
- Andrew Young, the former UN ambassador and Atlanta mayor
- International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 77
- The Black Slate
- SpelHouse PAC (supports Spelman and Morehouse College alumni running for office)
- Georgia Men for Democracy Now
- Equity in Education
- Peach Power PAC
Note: This list will be updated as additional endorsements are announced. If we’ve missed anything, please email alessandro@atlantaciviccircle.org.