“Senator! Senator!” chanted supporters of Jaha Howard late Tuesday evening after local media declared him the winner of the Georgia Senate District 35 special election runoff matchup. Howard, a dentist and former Cobb County School Board member, defeated veteran lawmaker Roger Bruce by just 236 votes, according to unofficial results listed on the secretary of […]
Chauncey Alcorn
Chauncey Alcorn is Capital B Atlanta's state and local politics reporter.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
State Senate District 35 Runoff Pits Dentist Against Elder Statesman
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 […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Public Services, State Politics
Georgia Power’s $16 Billion Data Center Push Could Mean Higher Costs for Residents
A Georgia Power proposal that would allow one of the largest energy infrastructure projects in state history crossed a major regulatory hurdle on Wednesday. The Public Service Commission’s Public Interest Advocacy Staff division approved a Georgia Power stipulation agreement that would greenlight construction of enough new power plant facilities to generate an additional 10,000 megawatts […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Fani Willis to Testify at Senate Committee Hearing Next Week
Fulton County’s case against Donald Trump and his 2020 fake elector co-conspirators may be over, but the Georgia Republican Party’s examination of how District Attorney Fani Willis handled the case against the president appears to be ramping up. Willis’ attorney, former Gov. Roy Barnes, told members of the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday that she […]
Posted inEducation, Politics & Policy
Black Parents Scramble as Atlanta Plans to Close or Repurpose 16 Schools
The walk to and from school for Mechanicsville resident Shatoya Kent and her 6-year-old daughter, Zyvanna, usually takes about four minutes. Last week, they learned that won’t be the case much longer. Kent’s daughter is a first-grader at Dunbar Elementary, one of 16 city schools scheduled to permanently close or be repurposed at the start […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Politics & Policy
Runoff Elections: South Fulton Elects Its First Female Mayor
The Blackest city in America elected its first female mayor on Tuesday. South Fulton City Council member Carmalitha Gumbs will become the city’s latest mayor in January after defeating her runoff election opponent, Mark Baker, by a sizable margin, according to unofficial vote totals. More than 13,400 people cast ballots in the contest, according to […]
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
Georgia Senate District 35 Race Advances To Runoff
The special election to decide the next state lawmaker from Georgia Senate district 35 is headed to a runoff. Democrats Jaha Howard — a dentist from Smyrna — and former state Rep. Roger Bruce, who retired from the state House earlier this year, were the top two vote recipients on election night in a field […]
Posted inGentrification, Housing, Politics & Policy
Mayor’s TAD Plan Sparks Gentrification Fears for Southwest Atlanta Activists
Atlanta community activists advocating on behalf of low-income Black families are raising gentrification concerns about Mayor Andre Dickens’ $5 billion neighborhood reinvestment initiative. The program calls for the extension of existing tax allocation districts (TADs) to help pay for revamping majority-Black neighborhoods on the city’s southwest side. TADs — also referred to as tax incremental […]
Posted inElections, Local Politics
Scandal, Growth, and a Crossroads: What’s at Stake in South Fulton’s Election
Andrea Jones is tired of hearing about the controversies surrounding South Fulton Mayor khalid “Kobi” kamau. The 51-year-old Jones is an Atlanta native who moved to South Fulton in 2015 because of the area’s more affordable homes and proximity to her family. She and other residents who spoke with Capital B Atlanta this week suggested […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
PSC Elections: Why the DNC Raised $100,000 for the High-Stakes Race
High energy bills and data centers popping up in Black neighborhoods across Georgia may be on the minds of many voters this week as they cast ballots in two Public Service Commission races that could impact how much money millions of people pay for power for the foreseeable future. PSC Commissioners Tim Echols and Fitz […]
