About Dunwoody reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 20??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2021)
Community | 3 FEBRUARY 2021 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net After historic Georgia elections, Democrats aim to bring blue wave to city races From left, John Jackson, chair of the DeKalb County Democratic Committee; Lane Flynn, chair of the DeKalb County Republican Party; Brookhaven City Councilmember Linley Jones; Valerie Habif, co-founder of the Jewish Democratic Women’s Salon, Atlanta. BY JOHN RUCH With Georgia’s historic presidential and U.S. Senate elections in the rear view mirror, the partisan political mo mentum is now driving toward this fall’s municipal elections in local cities. Dem ocratic activists emboldened by victory say they will localize the blue wave by backing candidates in officially nonpar tisan City Council or mayoral races. And campaigns could involve some of the lo cal figures who stood out in Georgia’s national political spotlight, such as Ga briel Sterling, the Republican state elec tion official who some observers say might be a good candidate for mayor in his hometown of Sandy Springs. Partisan politics has often played a role - albeit a quiet one - in municipal races in traditionally Republican local cities, where candidates may rely on the networking and parties may groom can didates for higher offices. But in recent years there have been flashes of more overt partisanship, as when state Dem ocratic Party chair Nikema Williams - now a U.S. congresswoman - boasted in 2019 of Lynn Deutsch’s victory in Dun- woody’s mayoral race, though Deutsch insisted she’s an independent. Now Democrats are coming on strong to field candidates, and maybe even sway more incumbents like Brookhaven City Coun cilmember Linley Jones, who confirmed to the Reporter that she quietly shifted affiliation from Republican to Democrat in recent years. “All of our focus will be put into find ing good candidates to run in municipal races where we have a verified Repub lican running,” said Lewanna Tucker, chair of the Fulton County Democratic Committee. “We will contest every race there is, from dog-catcher to governor! We don’t plan to let up until it’s all blue.” “I’m excited, now that we won Geor gia... we can focus on local [elections] again,” said John Jackson, chair of the DeKalb County Democratic Committee. “... You still have Republicans in some municipal seats. So we're definitely go ing to run some Democrats against Re publicans.” Jackson said that the DeKalb Demo crats also plan to boost their outreach to Latino and Asian American commu nities in the Buford Highway corridor after former President Trump saw sig nificant increases in votes from such communities in metro Atlanta and na tionwide. The Jewish Democratic Women’s Sa lon, Atlanta (JDWS) is a large, grassroots progressive group formed by residents of Brookhaven and Sandy Springs near ly 10 years ago. Known for hosting fo rums for state and federal candidates, DUN the group also has many members in volved in political campaigns. Now, says co-founder Valerie Habif, the salon is ready to go local. “We have not previously seen a need to involve ourselves in municipal elec tions because they are of course tradi tionally nonpartisan,” Habif said. “Our position has changed in part because of the outsized role that the suburbs and ex- urbs played in our recent election.... We do feel that municipal leaders in Atlan ta’s surrounding communities should re flect not only the diversity of their citi zenship but also their concerns.” One JDWS member recently won of fice - Tarece Johnson on the Gwinnett County Board of Education - and the group is encouraging members to run for more, Habif said. JDWS won’t en dorse candidates, but its members are likely to campaign for them, she said. Sandy Springs City Councilmember Andy Bauman, who was criticized as a “Democrat” by an unsuccessful oppo nent in his original 2013 campaign, has attended JDWS’s invitation-only forums. He has said he is undecided on a mayor al run or re-election campaign this year. For Republican officials, much of the focus will be on building state and coun ty campaigns with an eye on 2022. Trey Kelly, chair of the Fulton County Repub lican Party, said he expects more overtly partisan campaign in city races this year. “In the terms of municipal races in Sandy Springs or any other North Ful ton city this year, it would depend on the candidates,” Kelly said of his party’s involvement. “The cities of North Ful ton are the envy of local governments throughout Georgia. This was achieved through good government and conser vative solutions to local issues. We hope that continues.” KAPLAN ORTHODONTICS • modem & open office • flexible scheduling • insurance accepted #/■$!$• invisalign f * PROVIDER IN DUNWOODY 770-458-5561 FREE consultations! www.jkaplanortho.com
