Here’s a quick roundup of the March 21 Special Election results for both Clayton County ands the City of Jonesboro. All results are unofficial until certified.
The Board of Elections and Registration will certify the county election results on Friday, March 24 at 5:30 p.m. at the Clayton County Election Center, 7946 N. McDonough Street in Jonesboro.
A special election runoff for Clayton County Sheriff will take place April 18. Historically, Clayton County voters are less likely to vote in runoff elections—especially for local races.
CLAYTON COUNTY
Sheriff
 |  |
| Levon Allen 7,707 (47.01%) | Clarence Cox 4,690 (28.61%) |
Levon Allen and Clarence Cox will face each other in the April 18 special election runoff. The margin between the two top candidates on March 21 was 18.4%. If a single candidate had run against Allen and gotten all those other votes, Allen would have lost outright. Whether voters who backed other candidates will throw their support to Cox or Allen, and whether each candidate’s campaign can turn out enough voters on April 18, will be the deciding factors in who controls CCSO and the jail—at least until the 2024 election.
The Clayton Crescent spotted Allen entering The Juicy Crab where numerous Clayton County Sheriff’s Office vehicles were parked. With 56 out of 70 precincts reporting, the party was already well underway.
In Stockbridge, Allen’s two closest challengers, Clarence Cox and Chris Storey, held events across from each other.
Cox continued to stress the problems with gang activity, detainee maltreatment, and the ongoing lack of control at the Clayton County Jail: “Apparently people aren’t trying to get their knowledge on with what’s going on in our jail. I think people need to realize who’s at the helm and what’s going on with this thing. We’ve gotta do some educating in the next five weeks.”
He added, “I want the voters to understand that this is a very, very important race if we’re going to change the tide and make our county great again. That’s the only way we’re going to do it is to band together, get rid of some of the things that are going on in the current administration that was left over from the previous administration, and I encourage you guys to get out and vote. Get out and vote. Pass the word. Educate yourselves on what’s going on in our jail, what’s going on with our inmates. These guys are there for a detention They’re there being detained. They’re not going to serve a sentence. And that’s where I think our residents got confused. That’s not a prison. That’s a detention facility. Even if it’s a detention facility, we certainly need to make sure that we’re treating these people like human beings. We don’t have a reason to punish them because that’s not our job. That’s the judge, the courts, and those involved in the other parts of the judicial system.”
Storey, a first-time political candidate, made a respectable third-place showing, said, “We’re gonna be back. I’m a 33-year resident of Clayton County, and I’m not done. I’m gonna fight for what’s right in Clayton County, and I’m gonna fight for what’s right in the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, and there’s a lot of things that need to be changed. And I’m gonna be doing it from the outside, but I will be fighting for you and fighting for the employees of the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office.” He added that he would run again in 2024 when a full term for the sheriff’s seat will require another election:
GA House 75
Eric Bell beat Drew Andrews by a margin of 34.65%. This wasn’t Bell’s first run for office, but it was his first win:
Andrews, who had resigned from Invest Clayton to run for the House seat, told The Clayton Crescent he was disappointed, especially with the low voter turnout for a state-level race. In a Facebook post, he said, “there is much work left to do in Clayton County”:
School SPLOST
Voters overwhelmingly renewed the Clayton County Schools SPLOST one-cent sales tax for another five years. The money will go towards building a convocation center in the old Sears building at Southlake Mall, as well as to several new schools, improvements at existing buildings, and upgraded computers and software.
CITY OF JONESBORO
Mayor
Dr. Donya Sartor
263
(59.4% of 443 ballots cast)
Pat Sebo-Hand
180
(40.6% of 443 ballots cast)
Dr. Donya Sartor beat Pat Sebo-Hand by a margin of 18.8% to become the city’s first Black mayor. Both Sartor and Sebo-Hand resigned from City Council to run for the seat vacated when former Mayor Joy Day resigned. About one in five City of Jonesboro residents cast ballots in the municipal election.
Sebo-Hand was not available for comment immediately after the results were announced. At an energetic victory party at Nouveau, Sartor said, “I’m tired but I’m excited. We just do the work for everybody. We made history. Now we’ve just gotta do the work.”
Asked what the first thing was on her agenda, Sartor replied, “To talk to my council and to reach out to Pat.”
Jonesboro has approximately 2,477 registered voters, according to City Manager Ricky Clark. About 90% of those voters stayed away from the polls on March 21.
City Council (contested)
Alfred Dixon
258
(61.14% of 422 ballots cast)
Arlene Charles
164
(38.86% of 422 ballots cast)
Former City Councilman Alfred Dixon beat Arlene Charles by a 22.28% margin to fill Sartor’s unexpired term. All city council seats in Jonesboro are nonpartisan and at-large.
Dixon spoke with The Clayton Crescent after the results were announced:
City Council (uncontested)
Don Dixon
375
Don Dixon, a real estate attorney, ran unopposed to fill Sebo-Hand’s unexpired term. All city council seats in Jonesboro are nonpartisan and at-large.
“We’re gonna have to see what’s going on,” Dixon said of the election results. “They want to make a lot of changes. I’m for ’em, so see if we can get ’em done, get ’em approved.”
Specifically, Dixon said, “I want taxes lowered, trim those down. I want to get some more builders in here to build more and…get more revenue coming in for the city. With more revenue coming in, we can expand, and, you know, give some folks some raises and everything else.”
He added that “there’s a lot of room” available to build in Jonesboro. He said that “down the street, we’ve got three duplexes. There were seven lots. So now we have a builder that’s come in and is going to build on those lots. Now we’ve got new duplexes coming in…there are a lot of single lots available. We can get people in there and build them up. There’s probably at least a hundred. You just gottas get it out and know the people.”
Dixon said annexing more of unincorporated Jonesboro into the city was another possibility, although “there’s a lot of steps to get it annexed. But it’s something that needs to be started.”
The Clayton Crescent was the only news agency present for the Jonesboro municipal election returns. Watch live video of the proceedings:
