Candidates have qualified in the municipal races for the November 7 election. Some cities went to greater efforts than others to let residents know of the qualifying period. While Georgia law requires a public notice in the paper of record (in Clayton County, that’s the Clayton News), the municipalities generally gave far greater homepage prominence to various festivals and other non-election-related matters than to letting potential candidates know that it was time for them to turn in qualification packets and fees.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, that meant some cities’ incumbents went unchallenged: Lovejoy (which has for all intents and purposes dispensed with electoral politics), Forest Park (where the sole challenger in Ward 5, a city firefighter, dropped out after learning he would have to quit his job to run), and Lake City (see Lovejoy). Riverdale, which does not livestream or videorecord its council meetings, does have a full slate of challengers and incumbents, as does Morrow, where recent controversy over adding Vietnamese and Spanish ballots has galvanized those language communities. And in Jonesboro, it’s Groundhog Day for the most part, with a rematch between Mayor Donya Sartor and Pat Sebo-Hand, amid bitter infighting that has split the city in two. This time around, Arlene Charles is also running for mayor. It’s worth noting that, while the majority of the council has brought ethics charges against Sartor, they have yet to respond (weeks later) to The Clayton Crescent’s written requests for comment on the matter.
Last call for write-in candidates
Write-in candidates MUST qualify before the deadline in order for any vote for them to count in the November 7 election. Many people believe, incorrectly, that they can write in any old name in the blank. That is not true. The write-in candidate blank on your ballot is ONLY for officially-qualified write-in candidates who did not meet the deadline to have their name printed on the…
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