A former state representative who gave longtime 13th District Congressman David Scott a slight scare in the June Primary is among seven contenders who are seeking to finish the unexpired term of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis in a Sept. 29 special election.
Keisha Waites, who finished second in the 13th District primary in June with just more than 25 percent of the vote, threw her hat in the ring late last week. Early election results in the June 9 primary had Waites forcing Scott into a runoff. But the longtime 13th District Congressman pulled out the needed votes late in the night to avoid the runoff.
The Sept. 29 special election called by Gov. Brian Kemp will elect someone to fill the remainder of Lewis’ term, until whoever is elected in the November 3 General Election is inaugurated in January. Leaders in the Georgia Democratic Party met last week and selected state Sen. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, to replace Lewis on the Nov. 3 ballot. She faces Republican Angela Stanton King. A runoff for the special election would be held on Dec. 1, if needed.
Former city council member Kwanza Hall and retiring state Representative “Able” Mable Thomas also qualified to run in the special election. Williams chose not to run in the special election. Also some Democrat leaders felt former Atlanta Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen would join the list of qualifiers. She had been mentioned as a possible choice by the party leaders to fill Lewis’ slot on the November 3 General Election ballot.
Here is a breakdown of the seven candidates seeking the seat in the special election:
● “Able” Mable Thomas (Democrat) – Thomas has served in the Georgia House of Representatives, representing Midtown and southwest Atlanta. She will have served a total of 22 years in the Georgia Legislature over three separate stints when she officially leaves office in January. She won her last election unopposed, pulling in more than 16,000 votes. She won her 2018 primary with more than 75 percent of the vote.
● Robert Franklin (Democrat) – Franklin is a former Morehouse president, current professor at Emory’s Candler School of Theology, and was among the five finalists state Democrats were considering to place on the November ballot before choosing Nikema Williams.
● Barrington Martin II (Democrat) – Martin is a 32-year-old educator who ran in the June primary against John Lewis, receiving about 20,000 votes, or just more than 12 percent.
● Kwanza Hall (Democrat) – Hall is a former Atlanta City Councilman He finished fourth in the 2017 race for mayor and was one of the only candidates to endorse Keisha Lance Bottoms before she won as Mayor in a December runoff.
● Keisha Sean Waites (Democrat) – Waites is a former Georgia State Representative who finished second in the 13th District primary in June, with just more than 25 percent. She also ran for Chairman of the Fulton County Commission in 2018.
● Chase Oliver (Libertarian) – Oliver is the chairman of the Libertarian Party of Atlanta.
● Steven Muhammad (Independent) – Muhamad is an activist and minister who served on Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ task force for reimagining the Atlanta City Detention Center.
