McCormick, Cummings, Brown and Hines win runoffs in Cobb

Tuesday’s election saw candidates win their party’s nomination for Congress and the Georgia House, and another two win elected office in Cobb County.

Dr. Rich McCormick defeated Jake Evans to win the Republican runoff election for the 6th Congressional District.

The race was called by The Associated Press at 8:25 p.m., less than 90 minutes after polls closed.

According to unofficial results, McCormick won 27,418 votes (67%) to Evans’ 13,853 votes (33%).

McCormick will face Democrat Bob Christian in the November general election. The district, currently represented by Democrat Lucy McBath, was redrawn in the 2020 redistricting cycle to make it solidly Republican. Along with a chunk of northeast Cobb County, it includes parts of Fulton, Cherokee and Gwinnett counties; and all of Forsyth and Dawson counties.

McCormick is an emergency room doctor who was the Republican nominee in the 7th District two years ago. McBath did not seek reelection in the 6th, and is now the Democratic nominee in the 7th, which has been redrawn to favor Democrats.

Evans, an east Cobb attorney, is the former chairman of the Georgia Ethics Commission, and son of Randy Evans, a former ambassador and aide to Newt Gingrich. Evans had been endorsed by former president Donald Trump.

Vernon Jones, a Trump-endorsed candidate in the 10th District, also lost his GOP primary Tuesday night. Trump-backed candidates in the primaries for governor, secretary of state and attorney general all lost in the first round of voting May 24.

Despite Evans’ roots in Cobb, he fared no better here than in other counties, picking up just 34% of the Cobb vote.

In May, McCormick had finished first with 43% of the vote, followed by Evans, who got 23% of the vote.

Nominees set for Mableton-based seat

The Democratic nomination for a south Cobb Georgia state House seat was also decided Tuesday. Terry Cummings won the primary runoff in House District 39, defeating Monica DeLancy.

Cummings won with 1,407 votes, or 57%, to DeLancy’s 1,071 votes, or 43%, according to unofficial results.

Cummings will face Republican Olivia Angel in November.

Cummings is an attorney and retired federal law enforcement officer. DeLancy is an educator and tenants rights activist.

In the first round of voting in May, DeLancy came first with 29% of the vote. Cummings finished a close second, with 27% of the vote.

The Mableton-based seat is currently represented by state Rep. Erica Thomas, D-Austell, who did not seek reelection. Cummings is the favorite to be the district’s next representative due to the area’s strong Democratic lean — the Princeton Gerrymandering Project estimates Democrats will receive 79% of the vote in the district in November.

New judge in town

In a judicial runoff, Sonja Brown won election to serve as one of Cobb County’s 11 Superior Court judges, defeating James Luttrell.

Brown won 21,111 votes, or 64%, to Luttrell’s 11,990 votes, or 37%, according to unofficial results.

A former prosecutor, Brown currently serves as a full-time Cobb Magistrate Court judge. Luttrell is an attorney specializing in divorce and child custody matters, deprivation cases, and Social Security disability cases.

The election was held to fill the seat of retiring Judge Robert E. Flournoy III. In the first round of voting on May 24, Brown finished first with 29% of the vote, and Luttrell finished second with 22%.

The judicial election was the only race that was on the ballot countywide Tuesday. The 33,101 votes cast represented turnout of just 6.5%.

Smyrna council has a new face

In Smyrna, Latonia Hines narrowly won the Smyrna City Council Ward 2 special election runoff, defeating Natalie Keng.

According to unofficial results, Hines won with 203 votes, or 52%, over Keng’s 188 votes, or 48%.

Hines is an attorney and prosecutor who works as executive assistant district attorney in the office of Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady.

Keng is the CEO and founder of food company Global Hearth.

Hines and Keng advanced to the runoff after the first round of voting in May, when Hines finished first with 31.5% of the vote and Keng came second with 27.6%.

The seat was made vacant in February when then-Councilman Austin Wagner resigned to take a job in the administration of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.