The Atlanta City Council Post 3 At-Large race is headed to a runoff after none of the five candidates garnered enough votes to win during Tuesday’s election.
The top two vote-getters in the race for the citywide seat were Nicole Evans Jones with 40% and Eshé Collins with 25%, according to unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State. In Georgia, candidates must receive 50% plus one to win a race.
Evans is a former administrator with Atlanta Public Schools and a small business owner. Collins is a civil rights attorney and member of the Atlanta Board of Education.
The other candidates were Amber Connor with approximately 16% of the vote, Devin Barrington Ward with about 14% and Duvwon Robinson with about 5%.
More than 196,200 city of Atlanta voters cast ballots in the council special election race, according to election numbers from Fulton and DeKalb counties. Nearly 177,000 votes were counted in Fulton County. In DeKalb County, more than 19,000 voters cast ballots.
A runoff date is set for Dec. 3 with early voting expected to start Nov. 25. Registered voters who did not cast a ballot in the city council race on Nov. 5 are able to vote in the runoff.
Collins said the city council special election race likely was overshadowed on Nov. 5 by a crowded ballot that included state and federal races and, of course, a historic presidential election.
“I look at it like this — the runoff is an entirely different race,” Collins told Rough Draft.
“We won’t have the presidential ticket on the ballot. This means there’s a new opportunity to really heighten the importance of this seat for the city and for voters to really, truly get to know the candidates that are running,” she said.
Evans did not return requests for comment.
The Post 3 At-Large seat, once held by Mayor Andre Dickens, has been vacant since Keisha Sean Waites resigned in March to run for Fulton Clerk of Court. Waites did not win the clerk race.
Candidates are vying to fill the remainder of Waites’ term, which ends Dec. 31, 2025. The regular election for the Post 3 At-Large seat will be in November 2025.
The Post 3 At-Large seat is one of three at-large seats on the 15-member council. At-large seats are elected and represent the entire city and not just a specific district.
The Center for Civic Innovation, a nonprofit democracy think tank, is hosting a forum between Evans and Collins on Nov. 12.
