(The Center Square) – A former Georgia state representative and a former member of the Cobb County Board of Education, both Democrats, were the top two vote-getters in the race to succeed Georgia state Sen. Jason Esteves.
A runoff will be held on Dec. 16 to determine who will serve Esteves’ term. Esteves, a Democrat, resigned from his District 35 post to focus on his gubernatorial campaign.
Jaha Howard, who served on the Cobb County School board for four years, won the most votes with 32.63%, according to official results from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
Roger Bruce took second place with 25.37%. Bruce served in the Georgia House of Representatives for 22 years. Esteves endorsed Bruce in the race.
Georgia law requires a candidate to receive more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.
The sole Republican in the race, Josh Tolbert, received 17.57% of the vote, followed by Democrat Erica-Denise Solomon with 17.29%, John Williams, also a Democrat, with 5.29% and independent Corenza Morris with 1.84%.
The 35th district covers portions of Fulton and Cobb counties.
