Three Republican elected officials serving East Cobb at the county and state level had primary challenges on Tuesday, but all three won handily.
District 3 Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell cruised into the November general election by defeating first-time candidate Judy Sarden with 77 percent of the vote.
With all 52 precincts reporting, Birrell received 25,329 votes to 7,538 votes for Sarden, who during the campaign had been critical of Birrell’s votes on key zoning issues.
Birrell, who is seeking her fourth term, won all but the Chalker precinct. You can search the results by clicking here; they are unofficial until certified by the Cobb Board of Registration and Elections.
The new District 3, redistricted by the Georgia legislature, will include most of East Cobb.
In November, Birrell will face Democrat Christine Triebsch, a former candidate for the Georgia Senate.
Triebsch twice faced but lost to Republican Kay Kirkpatrick, who trounced Andy Soha in Senate District 32, which includes northeast Cobb and parts of Cherokee County.
Kirkpatrick, who is seeking her third full term, got 22,473 votes, or 85 percent, to 3,923 votes for Soha, a conservative political activist in Cherokee and Donald Trump campaign volunteer.
The results can be found by clicking here.
In November, Kirkpatrick will face Democrat Sylvia Bennett.
Another legislative leader from East Cobb targeted in the GOP primary is headed to the general election with a big victory.
State Rep. Sharon Cooper, the chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, trounced Cobb GOP activist Carminthia Moore in District 45.
Cooper received 10,713 votes, or 78 percent, to 2,954 votes for Moore (view results).
Cooper has represented District 43 since 1997, but during reapportionment she and former State Rep. Matt Dollar were redrawn into District 45.
Dollar announced last fall he would not seek re-election; both were the leading sponsors of the now-defeated East Cobb Cityhood referendum.
But Cooper said little about her support during the legislative session and did not speak to the bill on the House floor.
Her Democratic opponent in November, Dustin McCormick, made his opposition to East Cobb Cityhood a central issue in his special election campaign for District 45 this spring.
McCormick was defeated in a runoff on May 3 by Mitchell Kaye, who is filling out the rest of Dollar’s term this year.
In the new District 43, restaurant owner Solomon Adesanya defeated attorney Benjamin Stahl to win the Democratic primary.
Adesanya got 1,712 votes, or 56 percent, to 1,318 votes for Stahl to advance to the November general election against Republican Anna Tillman.
Primary winners in another open East Cobb legislative seat were determined handily on Tuesday.
In State Senate District 6, Fred Glass routed Angelic Moore with more than 67 percent in the Republican primary.
He will be challenged by Democrat Jason Esteves, the former chairman of the Atlanta Board of Education. Esteves got more than 55 percent of the vote against Luisa Wakeman, who twice came close to unseating Cooper in the last two elections.
Republican incumbents at the statewide level also had easy times in their primaries, including two of the most heavily watched races.
Gov. Brian Kemp cruised over former Sen. David Perdue, getting 73 percent of the vote. Perdue, who got less than 22 percent, conceded before 9 p.m.
In November, Kemp faces a rematch of the bitter 2018 gubernatorial campaign against Democrat Stacey Abrams.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who was targeted by former President Donald Trump after the 2020 elections, staved off a challenge from pro-Trump Congressman Jody Hice and won the primary without a runoff.
Raffensperger received 53 percent of the GOP vote and will face either State Rep. Bee Nguyen or Dee Dawkins-Haigler, who will be in a Democratic runoff next month.
Former UGA football star Herschel Walker was the easy winner of the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, setting up a November general election against Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock.
There will be a runoff in one of the primary races in the East Cobb area.
In the U.S. House District 6 GOP primary, Rich McCormick and Jake Evans will square off on June 21 to determine that party’s standard-bearer in November.
McCormick got 43 percent of the vote and Evans collected 23 percent in a field with nine candidates.
In the general election, the runoff winner will face Bob Christian, who won the Democratic primary Tuesday over Wayne White with 55 percent of the vote.
For more election results, visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s site with real-time updates, precinct breakdowns, and more.
Related:
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- East Cobb Cityhood referendum defeated in landslide
- As East Cobb Cityhood vote nears, recent votes have sputtered
- State Rep. Mitchell Kaye sworn in at Georgia Capitol
- After two weeks of Cobb early voting, 25K+ votes cast
- Ga. Democratic, GOP voters asked charged ballot questions
- More than 12K ballots cast during the first week of early voting
- Former legislator wins special election runoff for East Cobb seat
- Cobb early voting map shows wait times at polling locations
- Cobb advance voting guide for primaries, referendums
- East Cobb News Politics & Elections page
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