Isaiah Hugley Sr. and Joanne Cogle to Vie for Mayor of Columbus, Georgia
Primaries for eight of Georgia's most populous counties are detailed below.
The Democratic and Republican primaries occurred today in Georgia to select candidates for the November 2026 general election. This post covers the races for county positions in eight of the state’s most-populous counties. That includes Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Henry Counties. It also features the nonpartisan mayoral contests in Athens, Augusta, and Columbus. Separate posts will be covering the primaries for federal races, statewide executive offices, and both chambers of the state legislature. Meanwhile, general elections for three seats on the Georgia Supreme Court also occurred today.
In Georgia, a candidate needs to achieve a 50%+1 majority in the primary to receive their party’s nomination. If that doesn’t happen, then the top two finishers will advance to a runoff scheduled for June 16, 2026.
The general election for these county positions in Georgia’s main population centers will be held on November 3, 2026.
Cherokee County Board of Commissioners:
Chair:
No candidate qualified for the Democratic primary.
Incumbent Harry Johnston won the Republican primary.
District 1:
No candidate qualified for the Democratic primary.
Incumbent Will Cagle won the Republican primary.
District 4:
Cybersecurity engineer Steven Rogers won the Democratic primary.
Incumbent Corey Ragsdale won the Republican primary.
Clayton County Board of Commissioners:
District 1:
Incumbent Alaina Reaves and entrepreneur Demeitrice Collins will advance in the Democratic primary with 38.6% (4,094) and 25.6% (2,720) against business consultant Tamala LaShae-Harps with 13.6% (1,443), former County Commission staffer LaVona Cooper with 12.3% (1,311), and educator Eddie Gordon with 9.9% (1,047). 10,615 votes counted.
No candidate qualified for the Republican primary.
District 4:
Incumbent DeMont Davis won the Democratic primary with 60.9% (5,726) against real estate broker Judith Lynne Cotten with 20.7% (1,949) and nursing assistant Meia Ballinger with 18.4% (1,735). 9,410 votes counted.
No candidate qualified for the Republican primary.
Cobb County Board of Commissioners:
District 1:
No candidate qualified for the Democratic primary.
Incumbent Keli Gambrill won the Republican primary with 71.7% (16,072) against retiree Clark Hungerford with 28.3% (6,344). 22,416 votes counted.
District 3:
Business executive Kevin Redmon won the Democratic primary.
Incumbent JoAnn Birrell won the Republican primary with 72.2% (16,000) against business executive Chris Wasserman with 27.8% (6,148). 22,148 votes counted.
Cobb County Officials:
Solicitor General:
Incumbent Makia Metzger won the Democratic primary with 77.5% (69,209) against state prosecutor Christopher Futch with 22.5% (20,138). 89,347 votes counted.
No candidate qualified for the Republican primary.
Surveyor:
No candidate qualified for the Democratic primary.
Incumbent Chris Evans won the Republican primary.
DeKalb County Board of Commissioners:
District 2:
Incumbent Michelle Long Spears won the Democratic primary.
Ben Pepper won the Republican primary.
District 3:
Incumbent Nicole Massiah and pastor Keyanna Jones Moore will advance in the Democratic primary with 42.0% (15,797) and 41.3% (15,543) against business owner Jake Walls with 8.9% (3,358) and entrepreneur Tommy Travis with 7.8% (2,923). 37,621 votes counted.
Andrea Bass Smith won the Republican primary.
District 7:
Incumbent LaDena Bolton won the Democratic primary with 56.0% (40,840) against business executive Jacqueline Adams with 31.6% (23,029) and entrepreneur Oneka Willabus with 12.4% (9,070). 72,939 votes counted.
No candidate qualified for the Republican primary.
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners:
District 1:
Former government contractor Vincent Wright won the Democratic primary.
Nonprofit official Adam Rodes and incumbent Kerry Hill will advance in the Republican primary with 40.9% (3,20) and 33.2% (2,607) against business owner Hank Sullivan with 25.9% (2,031). 7,844 votes counted.
District 3:
Finance professional Shuchita Patel won the Democratic primary.
Incumbent Todd Levent won the Republican primary.
Forsyth County Officials:
Solicitor General:
No candidate qualified for the Democratic primary.
Incumbent William Finch won the Republican primary.
Fulton County Board of Commissioners:
Chair:
County Commissioner Mo Ivory and incumbent Robb Pitts won the Democratic primary with 39.9% (64,188) and 34.8% (56,027) against County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. with 25.3% (40,731). 160,946 votes counted.
Attorney Eric Tatum won the Republican primary.
District 1:
2022 nominee Maggie Goldman won the Democratic primary.
Incumbent Bridget Thorne won the Republican primary.
District 3:
Former County Commissioner Lee Morris and business executive Jodi Merriday will advance in the Democratic primary with 32.0% (6,891) and 28.6% (6,167) against operations manager Kimberly Bean with 20.8% (4,474), political consultant Kiddada Grey with 13.3% (2,863), and operations manager Reed Stillson with 5.4% (1,156). 21,551 votes counted.
Business executive Paul Burton won the Republican primary with 63.3% (5,826) against business owner Rebecca King with 36.7% (3,381). 9,207 votes counted.
District 5:
South Fulton city councilmember Helen Willis and former County Commission staffer Sojourner Grimmett will advance in the Democratic primary with 43.2% (16,872) and 35.4% (13,802) against business owner Dejia Swindell with 12.7% (4,941) and podcast producer Jazz Thomas-Jones with 8.7% (3,412). 39,027 votes counted.
Former Dolton, Illinois mayor Tiffany Henyard won the Republican primary.
Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners:
District 2:
Incumbent Ben Ku won the Democratic primary.
Business owner Rodolfo Ochoa won the Republican primary.
District 4:
College student Benjamin Culberson won the Democratic primary.
Incumbent Matthew Holtkamp won the Republican primary with 87.3% (14,780) against business executive Arefeen Chowdhury with 12.7% (2,156). 16,936 votes counted.
Gwinnett County Officials:
Solicitor General:
Incumbent Lisamarie Bristol won the Democratic primary with 72.6% (65,954) against state prosecutor Joseph Morales with 27.4% (24,933). 90,887 votes counted.
No candidate qualified for the Republican primary.
Henry County Board of Commissioners:
District 3:
Nonprofit founder Keisha Buchanan won the Democratic primary with 67.3% (5,121) against 2022 nominee Sarita Dyer with 32.7% (2,487). 7,608 votes counted.
Incumbent Derrell “Dee” Anglyn III won the Republican primary.
District 4:
Incumbent Michael Price and nonprofit founder Phedra “PT” Thomas will advance in the Democratic primary with 45.4% (3,527) and 40.8% (3,164) against business owner Lonnie Wilson with 13.8% (1,071). 7,762 votes counted.
No candidate qualified for the Republican primary.
District 5:
Incumbent Kevin Lewis won the Democratic primary.
No candidate qualified for the Republican primary.
Mayors (Nonpartisan):
In Athens, Board of Education member Tim Denson and County Commissioner Dexter Fisher will advance with 37.7% (9,634) and 27.1% (6,914) against Board of Education member LaKeisha Gantt with 21.7% (5,546), community advocate Mara Zuniga with 11.7% (2,981), and pastor Sharon Miller with 1.8% (466). 25,541 votes counted.
In Augusta, incumbent Garnett Johnson and Chief Deputy Tax Commissioner Steven Kendrick will advance with 42.8% (16,313) and 35.5% (13,531) against real estate investor Eric Gaines with 14.3% (5,442) and educator Lori Myles with 7.4% (2,832). 38,118 votes counted.
In Columbus, former city manager Isaiah Hugley Sr. and city councilmember Joanne Cogle will advance with 44.7% (16,315) and 25.2% (9,188) against attorney Chris Breault with 12.9% (4,718), counselor Jaketra Bryant with 9.5% (3,460), former law enforcement officer Mark LaJoye with 5.1% (1,861), and Army veteran Steve Kelly with 2.6% (968). 36,510 votes counted.