Ups, Downs and In-betweens
Atlanta has a new City Council president; a 22 year old college student becomes the state's youngest Black mayor, and more.
Landmark Wins: For the first time since 2006, there will be a Democrat on the Georgia Public Service Commission. Make that two. Alicia Johnson ousted Republican incumbent Tim Echols for the District 2 seat, and Peter Hubbard beat Fitz Johnson to represent District 3. The five-member PSC oversees utilities and sets the rates for electricity, gas and landline phone service. It also approves Georgia Power’s plans to make or buy energy and deliver it to customers.
New City Council President: Atlanta elected Marci Overstreet to serve as the next City Council president, succeeding Doug Shipman, who did not run for reelection due to family medical challenges. Overstreet, who currently represents District 11 on the Atlanta City Council, received more than 51% of the vote over Rohit Malhotra, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Center for Civic Innovation, who received nearly 49% of the votes.
Mayor Shuffle: Several incumbent mayors won elections in November, including Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who received 86% of the vote in a landslide win. In Marietta, incumbent 78-year-old Steve Tumlin narrowly beat 24-year-old IT systems engineer Sam Foster by only 87 votes. If elected, Foster would have become the first Black mayor in Marietta’s history.
Other incumbent mayors were ousted around the state, including Stone Mountain mayor Beverly Jones, who had been facing criticism over taking control of the city’s bank accounts. Jelani Linder, who works in real estate and urban planning, will be the next Stone Mountain mayor.
Embattled South Fulton Mayor Khalid Kamau, who had faced intense criticism over the spending of public money while in office, came in sixth place in a race between nine people, with less than 5% of the vote. A runoff held Dec. 2 between City Councilmembers Carmalitha Gumbs and Mark Baker decides the next South Fulton mayor.
Also of note, incumbent Stockbridge Mayor Anthony Ford was defeated by 22-year-old Clark Atlanta student Jayden Williams, who will become the youngest mayor in the city’s history and the youngest Black mayor in the state. (Arabi Mayor Brooke Huckaby, 22, is the youngest female mayor in the state.) History was also made in South Georgia, where Bainbridge Councilmember Sylvia Washington defeated incumbent Edward Reynolds to become the first Black mayor in the city’s history; Alisha Williams won to become the first Black female mayor of Cairo, and Donalsonville elected Wynette Reynolds as the city’s first female mayor.
Several races were headed for a December runoff. In Roswell, incumbent Kurt Wilson was in a runoff with former Democratic state Rep. Mary Robichaux. Three-term Sandy Springs mayor Rusty Paul went up against multimedia agency founder Dontaye Carter.
Special Elections Ahead: The race to replace state Rep. Shelly Hutchinson (D-Snellville), who announced her retirement from public office in August to address a serious health crisis in her family, will go to a runoff between Democrats Marqus Cole and Muhammad Akbar Ali, who received 39% and 32% of the vote, respectively. A third candidate, Republican Jamie Parker, got 29%.
Cole is the organizing director at Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, an energy and environmental nonprofit. Ali, 21, is a recent Kennesaw State graduate and former vice chair for the Gwinnett County Democratic Party. If elected, he would become the youngest state legislator currently serving in Georgia.
Yet another state representative stepped down in October. Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville) cited a more demanding work schedule as the reason he resigned. A special election is set to elect a successor for District 121, which encompasses Clarke and Oconee counties, on Dec. 9.
More Candidates: The race for the next state superintendent of schools just got a bit more crowded, with Democrat Otha Thornton Jr. and former state representative Mesha Mainor, who switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP in 2023, joining four other Republicans.
In the race for Georgia’s next secretary of state, former Democrat now-Republican Vernon Jones announced his candidacy, joining five others currently jockeying to become the new head of state elections. Current Secretary Brad Raffensperger is running for governor in 2026. 
Mandi Ballinger. Photo credit: Contributed
In Memoriam: Longtime state Rep. Mandi Ballinger (R-Canton) passed away in October from cancer. She was 50 years old. Ballinger, who represented District 23, was known as an advocate for children and survivors of domestic violence and served as chair of the House Judiciary Juvenile Committee. She was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2012 and was serving her sixth term when she died.
