Nicole “Nikki” Evans Jones raised just over $15,000 more than Eshé Collins in the special election to fill a citywide seat on the Atlanta City Council.
The two face each other in a Dec. 3 runoff for the Post 3 At-Large seat after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote on Election Day. Jones received approximately 40% of the vote with Collins garnering 25%.
The position has been vacant since March when Keisha Sean Waites resigned to run for Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts. Waites lost in the May primary.
A forum with the candidates is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 6 p.m. at Piedmont Center, Building 14, 3535 Piedmont Road NE, in Buckhead. The event will be hosted and moderated by Amber Connor, who was a candidate for the Post 3 At-Large seat.
The two candidates will meet again on Thursday, Nov. 21, to speak on transit and urbanism in a forum hosted by MARTA Army and Beltline Rail Now. The forum starts at 7 p.m. at Sylvan Middle School, 1461 Sylvan Road SW.
The money and who is contributing
Jones, a first-time candidate and small business owner, raised a total of $206,694 and had just over $29,000 cash in hand for the runoff, according to the latest disclosure reports filed this month. Jones also served as a principal or assistant principal in Atlanta Public Schools for 30 years.
Collins, a civil rights attorney and the Atlanta Board of Education District 6 representative, raised $191,619 and had more than $33,000 cash in hand. Collins has also served as chair of the Atlanta Board of Education.
Fundraising for the city council seat runoff came up as an issue about transparency during a Nov. 12 candidate forum sponsored by the Center for Civic Innovation. CCI is an Atlanta-based nonprofit group working with a coalition to inform and engage people in local elections.
“What we have found in the past is that [a disclosure] tells you a lot about how a person is going to govern and how they’re going to work,” said Rohit Malhotra, founder and executive director of CCI.
City council candidates were to turn in their latest quarterly report on Oct. 21. Collins finally submitted her completed report on Nov. 15. But Jones also submitted a late disclosure — a report due June 30 was submitted Aug. 1.
The state ethics committee in charge of campaign disclosures gives a week grace period to submit reports. Candidates typically face fines for exceeding the grace period.
The campaign disclosure reports reveal both candidates received contributions from some of Atlanta’s leading community and business leaders.
Contributors to the Jones campaign include:
• $3,500 from Ernest LaMont Greer, co-president of global law firm Greenberg Traurig
• $3,500 from Patrice Greer, president of Creative Concourse Concepts, an airport concessionaire in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
• $3,300 from Laura Seydel, former chair of Captain Planet Foundation, board member of UN Foundation and Project Drawdown, daughter of Ted Turner
• $500 from Atlanta City Councilmember Marci Collier Overstreet, representative for District 11
• $3,300 from Roy B. Robinson III, founder of The R.B. Robinson Company, a public affairs firm whose clients include MARTA and the State Bar of Georgia
• $1,000 from Tharon Johnson, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Paramount Consulting Group, a government affairs and communications firm
• $1,000 from Sally Yates, partner at King & Spalding law firm. Yates was appointed deputy attorney general by President Barack Obama in 2015. She was fired as acting attorney general by Donald Trump after his inauguration when she refused to defend his executive order closing the nation’s borders to refugees and people from predominantly Muslim countries.
Contributors to the Collins campaign include:
• $500 from Atlanta City Councilmember Marci Collier Overstreet
• $3,300 from State Sen. Jason Esteves, a former member of the Atlanta Board of Education
$1,500 from Egbert Perry, CEO of local developer the Integral Group
$1,000 from Billy Linville, co-Founder and managing partner of Lexicon Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm whose clients include Committed for a United Atlanta and Better Atlanta Transit
$250 from Renee Glover, founder of the Catalyst Group, national consulting firm focused on urban development and who was president and CEO of Atlanta Housing Authority from 1994 to 2013
$500 from State Sen. Elena Parent
$3,300 from Arthur Rock, a San Francisco billionaire who helped fund a recall election to oust three members of the San Francisco school board
Information for voters:
Key dates
Nov. 22 – Last day to request an absentee ballot
Nov. 23 – Advance voting begins
Nov. 27 – Advance voting ends
Dec. 3 – Election Day
Fulton County Advance Voting Locations
Adams Park Library, 2231 Campbellton Road SW
Buckhead Library (drop box), 269 Buckhead Ave. NE
C.T. Martin Recreation Center (drop box), 3201 Martin Luther King Jr Drive SW
East Point First Mallalieu United Methodist Church (drop box), 2651 N Church St.
Joan P. Garner at Ponce De Leon Library, 980 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE
Metropolitan Library, 1332 Metropolitan Pkwy. SW
Northwest Library at Scotts Crossing, 2489 Perry Blvd. NW
Dekalb County Advance Voting Locations
Bessie Branham Recreation Center, 2051 Delano Drive NE
DeKalb Voter Registration & Elections Office, 4380 Memorial Drive
Emory University, 1599 Clifton Road
New Bethel AMEC, 8350 Rockbridge Road, SW
New Life Community Alliance (drop box), 3592 Flat Shoals Road
North DeKalb Senior Center, 3393 Malone Drive
Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library (drop box), 5234 Lavista Road
Voting days/hours:
Saturday, Nov. 23 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 24 Noon – 5 p.m.
Monday – Wednesday, Nov. 25-27 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 3 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
What to bring for in-person voting: A valid ID, such as a driver’s license or passport.
If you are a voter with a physical disability or are 75 years of age and older, you do not need to wait in line. Just walk to the entrance, and a poll worker will assist you in casting your ballot.
For additional information, visit these websites:
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
