It’s Election Day for metro Atlanta’s Senate District 35 seat
Voters in Cobb and Fulton Counties will cast a ballot today in a special election to replace former state Sen. Jason Esteves (D-Atlanta), who resigned in September to run for governor.
Six candidates – four Democrats, a Republican, and an independent – are vying for the state Senate District 35 seat, which covers West Atlanta, Smyrna, and part of Vinings.
- Roger Bruce, a Democrat, retired last year after serving 22 years as a state representative.
- Jaha Howard, a Democrat, served on the Cobb County school board from 2019 to 2022.
- Corenza Morris, an independent, is a former College Park police officer and sergeant in the Georgia Army National Guard.
- Erica-Denise Solomon, a Democrat, is a communications consultant and former journalist.
- Joshua Tolbert, a Republican, is an engineer who owns a consulting firm.
- John Williams, a Democrat, has worked as a mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin and is a longtime youth sports advocate and community volunteer.
A runoff is scheduled for Dec. 16 if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.
So far, 10,474 early voters have cast a ballot , out of about 150,000 eligible voters, for a 7% turnout rate in the runup to the Nov. 18 special election, according to a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office.
Voters can check whether they live in Senate District 35, verify their registration, and find their polling location on the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Early voting kicks off Saturday for Atlanta school board and city council runoffs
Atlanta’s runoff elections are around the corner for the city council District 7 and 11 seats and three school board seats for Districts 2, 6, and Seat 8 At-Large.
For a full run-down of endorsements for the city council and school board runoffs, check out our runoff endorsement tracker. And If you missed it, here’s our recap of the Nov. 4 election.
Early voting will take place from Nov. 22 to Nov. 26. Election Day is Dec 2. Here’s the early voting schedule:
- Saturday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sunday: noon to 5 p.m.
- Weekdays: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Nov. 21. To check your ballot, visit the My Voter Page. Early voting and dropbox locations for Fulton and DeKalb counties can be found here.
Bring ‘em out: High-profile endorsements for council District 11 runoff
Wayne Martin picked up high-profile endorsements on Friday from Atlanta City Council President-elect Marci Collier Overstreet and District 10 Councilmember Andrea Boone for Overstreet’s former District 11 council seat.
The two Atlanta politicos announced their support for Martin outside Big Daddy’s Kitchen, located at 3085 Campbellton Road SW. “Wayne Martin is going to be the council person that’s going to hold MARTA accountable for every delivery they have promised us as taxpayers, just like I’ve done,” Overstreet said, referring to MARTA’s promised Campbellton Road Corridor project.
Meanwhile, Martin’s opponent for the open seat, Nate Jester has picked up endorsements from several District 11 candidates who did not advance to the runoff, including Toni Belin-Ingram, Andre Burgin, Steven Dingle, and Reginald Rushin.
Find out what they and the unsuccessful council District 7 candidates had to say about the runoffs here.
Voices from the picket line: Why Starbucks baristas are on strike
Local Starbucks baristas on the picket line told me that understaffing and low pay pushed them to shut down unionized Alpharetta and Roswell stores as part of a national Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) strike to win a contract from the coffee giant.
Several said they’re living paycheck to paycheck, and one said she had just $19 in her checking account until her next pay day. Read our full story here.
The 44 baristas at the Alpharetta store, located at 10830 Haynes Bridge Road, and the Roswell store, located at 1570 Holcomb Bridge Road, joined over 1,000 striking SBWU members for the Nov. 13 walkout on “Red Cup Day,” which launches Starbucks’ busy holiday season. The strike has swept 65 unionized stores in 40 cities, and SBWU organizers have said it could extend to other unionized shops.
The union is asking the public to boycott Starbucks and respect picket lines during the strike.
Today’s Democracy Digest newsletter was written by Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon. It was edited by Meredith Hobbs. As always, thank you for reading. Have tips, corrections, or questions? Just reply to this email.