Endorsements Pile Up as HD 55, DeKalb 5 Head to Run-offs in Special Election
(APN) ATLANTA — Several former candidates in the DeKalb District 5 Special Election have coalesced around candidate George Turner, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.
Turner has been endorsed by five of the eight candidates who did not prevail in the Special Election, including Harmel Codi, Gwen Green, Jerome Edmondson, Kathryn Rice, and Kenneth Saunders.
Turner and Mereda Johnson are headed into a Run-off Election that will take place on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, one week from today.
In a crowded June 16, 2015 Special Election, with ten candidates running, Johnson, the wife of U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), received 27.21 percent of the vote. Mr. Turner received 15.94 percent.
APN’s Board of Directors rated Turner as Qualfied, noting his extensive advocacy experience on behalf of neighborhood associations in District 5. Johnson, on the other hand, did not respond to a media request from APN, and has little experience as an advocate in District 5.
Meanwhile, in the State House District 55 Special Election, Shelitha Robertson and Marie Metze are going into a Run-off.
Robertson received 30.8 percent of the vote, while Metze received 30.4 percent in the June 16 Special Election.
APN has endorsed Robertson, while rating Metze as Qualified.
Robertson has received the endorsements of Georgia Equality, Atlanta Progressive News, State Sen. Donzella James (D-Atlanta), State Reps. Keisha Waites (D-Atlanta) and Sheila Jones (D-Atlanta), and Fulton County Commissioner Joan Garner (District 3).
Metze has received the endorsements of Fulton County Commissioner Emma Darnell (District 6), Atlanta City Councilman C.T. Martin (District 10), State Rep. Pat Gardner (D-Atlanta), and Charlie Flemming, union organizer.
(END/2015)