Voters in west metro Atlanta are heading to the polls again Tuesday to decide which state Senate District 35 runoff election candidate they want to represent them in the Georgia General Assembly next year.
Jaha Howard — a local dentist and former Cobb County School Board member — and retired state House Rep. Roger Bruce are competing to replace state Sen. Jason Esteves, who vacated his seat earlier this year to focus on his run for governor. They were the top two vote recipients during their special election matchup on Nov. 18, but neither reached the 50% plus one majority needed to avoid a runoff.
Whoever wins will serve the remainder of Esteves’ term, which ends in about a year, and represent the interests of nearly 200,000 people, 70% of whom are Black.
District 35 includes parts of southwest Atlanta and surrounding communities in Fulton County, such as South Fulton. It also includes parts of Cobb County, such as Mableton and Smyrna.
The matchup pits a veteran state lawmaker focused on ensuring Black voters have equal access to the ballot during next year’s pivotal midterm elections against an aspiring change agent who wants to tackle Georgia’s affordability woes.
Howard, 44, is a Smyrna resident and owner of A+ Pediatric Dentistry of Atlanta. He says his top priorities are improving affordability, putting a moratorium on data center construction, and limiting the ability for private equity firms to buy up single-family homes in the region.
“Everything costs too much,” Howard told Capital B Atlanta earlier this month. “Trust in government is at an all-time low. We need true integrity, we need fight, and we need folks who are going to lead in the right way.”
The Howard University graduate, who received the most votes in November, characterized himself as an anti-establishment candidate who wants to shake up business as usual inside the Gold Dome.
He suggested the timing of his rival’s entrance in the race in September was “fishy,” insinuating Bruce may be running at the behest of Democratic Party bosses looking to install an establishment candidate to replace Esteves instead of someone focused on doing the bidding of the voters.
“It seems like some establishments in our party were trying to choose the state senator for the voters, instead of the voters choosing their state senators,” Howard said. “This district deserves a fighter who is going to keep the everyday citizens in every corner of the district in mind with every decision that’s made.”
Bruce, 72, is a South Fulton resident who served 22 years in the state House before announcing his retirement earlier this year. He told Capital B Atlanta in November he won’t seek reelection next year, saying he wants only to be a transitional candidate for voters who want more time to decide who they want to replace Esteves long term.
“I wanted to make sure the voters had time to vet the candidates, make sure they’re picking somebody that knows what they’re doing,” Bruce said. “It’s not my intent to stay there for a long period of time.”
Bruce is also a passionate critic of Donald Trump who last year introduced a resolution imploring Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to keep the president’s name off the 2024 ballot over Trump’s alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Capitol Hill.
That resolution failed to advance out of committee.
The voting rights champion expressed concerns about Trump’s remarks thanking Elon Musk for helping Trump win Pennsylvania in 2024 and praising the tech billionaire for his knowledge of “vote counting computers.” He said his main concern next year is ensuring Trump and his followers don’t disenfranchise Georgia voters at the polls.
“I’m going to be introducing legislation and trying to impact the budget so that we can have more monitors at polling places, because I’m very concerned about what’s going to happen with the election,” Bruce said.
Polls are scheduled to be open tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at most qualifying locations in the district. If you live in the district, click here to find your polling place.
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