Two longtime city councilwomen are up against tough opponents in this year's city runoff elections. Cleta Winslow, who has served as the District 4 rep since 1994, and Joyce Sheperd who has served District 12 since 2004, are both facing up-and-coming local politicians who have been able to build major support systems leading up to this year's election.
Councilwoman Winslow has a very loyal voter base who has kept her in office for 27 years now. Her opponent, Jason Dozier, was the first candidate to ever push her to a runoff. Dozier decided to challenge Winslow in 2017 after attempting to demand that City Hall agree to a community benefits agreement before the sale of Turner Field. The campaign was unsuccessful, but it inspired him to seek local office.
While Dozier ran a strong campaign, and was able to earn more than 2,000 votes, Winslow still defeated him by about 250 votes. This year, he hopes the momentum from his 2017 campaign will push him over the finish line.
District 12 Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd has also been pushed to a runoff for the first time since 2005. Sheperd has been in headlines this year for introducing legislation to lease 85 acres of the South River Forest to the Atlanta Police Foundation, for the purpose of building a $90 million police & fire training facility.
Sheperd is up against Cleveland Ave. native Antonio Lewis. Born and raised in the district, Lewis graduated from South Atlanta High School and went on to work for U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay Jr. from Missouri’s 5th Congressional District.
He is now a community organizer, labor activist, and little league coach, and he believes the southeast Atlanta district is ready for change. He also earned over 2,000 votes in the general, and only trailed Sheperd by less than 100 votes, making this the biggest test Sheperd has faced in well over a decade.
Atlanta runoff elections will be held on Nov. 30th.