2023 Mableton mayoral election
March 21, 2023 (first round)
April 18, 2023 (runoff)
 
Candidate Michael Owens Aaron Carman
First round 1,846
31%		 2,162
36%
Second round 3,396
56%		 2,703
44%
 
Candidate LaTonia Long Michael Murphy
First round 1,472
24%		 561
9%
Elected Mayor

Michael Owens
Democratic

The 2023 Mableton mayoral election took place on March 21, 2023 with a runoff held on April 18, 2023 as no candidate got 50% of the vote in the general election. Aaron Carman gained the most votes in the first round but lost the runoff to former Cobb County Democratic Committee chair Michael Owens who became the first mayor of Mableton, Georgia in over 100 years.[1] Despite the runoff election being described as historic, only 6,113 votes were cast and voter turnout remained low at 12.9% of about 47,200 voters.[2][3]

Background

Mableton had previously been incorporated as a city on August 19, 1912 but was disincorporated four years later when a flood overwhelmed its sewer system.[4][5] The nonprofit organization South Cobb Alliance started the campaign for Mableton to be incorporated.[5] Mableton was the last of four proposed new cities in Metro Atlanta to be approved; the other three, East Cobb, Lost Mountain and Vinings, all failed to be incorporated as municipalities in referendums.[6] In May 2022, Brentin Mock of Bloomberg News described the city movement in Metro Atlanta as being "defeated".[6] Though Mock reported that Mableton was different as it was the only one out of the four to have a majority non-white population and is assembling around "principles of diversity, affordability and inclusive voting rights".[5] Politically, Mableton is in Cobb County whose board of commissioners was majority white and Republican for most of its history, until 2020 when it became majority black and Democrat.[5] According to a preliminary analysis from Cobb County, the incorporation of Mableton would result in a net annual loss of $8 million from the city's budget after accounting for the services that the county would no longer provide for it.[5]

In November 2022, the city was reincorporated in an election with 53% of the vote and a margin of just over 1,700 votes.[7] The majority of no votes were concentrated in the north of Mableton, where household income is higher.[8] Human resources director Mark Sette said it was a "power grab" to annex unincorporated areas of north Mableton to "pay for all of the projects that they want down there [in south Mableton]".[8] Thousands of people signed a petition to de-annex areas that voted no from the city.[9] Mableton was different in that the supporters of de-annexation were multi-racial and multi-generational while organizers of similar secession movements tended to be mainly older white residents.[8]

Michael Owens stated that he was not against de-annexation but that his focus was on the majority of Mableton residents who wish to be in the city.[10] LaTonia Long and Michael Murphy both opposed de-annexation.[10] Mayoral candidate Aaron Carman said that he supported the people involved in the de-annexation effort but stated that if the de-annexation efforts do not pass, Mableton needed someone that could "bring the city together".[10] State representative David Wilkerson submitted two de-annexation bills that would have allowed some areas to de-annex from Mableton but both failed in the Georgia General Assembly.[11] A compromise bill in response to the bills submitted by Wilkerson was drafted by state representatives Terry Cummings and Michael Smith but this also failed as it was not published in time.[12][11]

Candidates

General election

Endorsements

Michael Owens
Statewide officials
State legislators
Local officials
  • Ron Davis, Mableton city councilor-elect for District 1[21]
  • Craig Owens, Cobb County Sheriff[21]
Labor unions
  • Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council[22]

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of March 15, 2023
Candidate Total raised Cash on hand
Aaron Carman $9,600 Not disclosed
LaTonia Long $21,940[lower-alpha 1] $7,775
Michael Murphy $6,750 Not disclosed
Michael Owens Not disclosed Not disclosed
[14]

First round

First round results[23]
Candidate Votes  %
Aaron Carman 2,162 36%
Michael Owens 1,846 31%
LaTonia Long 1,472 24%
Michael Murphy 561 9%
Write-in 43 0.7
Total votes 6,084 100%

Runoff

Second round results[24]
Candidate Votes  %
Michael Owens 3,396 55.68%
Aaron Carman 2,703 44.32%
Write-in 14 0.22%
Total votes 6,113 100%

Notes

  1. ↑ Long and her husband loaned her campaign $3,500.

References

  1. ↑ "Mableton first-ever mayor talks his top priorities for Cobb County's largest city". WABE. June 13, 2023. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Michael Owens elected mayor of Mableton". Yahoo Sports. April 19, 2023. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  3. ↑ Zickgraf, Ryan (April 19, 2023). "Turnout, enthusiasm remained low for Mableton's historic runoff elections". Atlanta Civic Circle. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Larry Felton (August 20, 2023). "When Mableton first was (and shortly thereafter wasn't) a city". Cobb County Courier. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "A Different Kind of Cityhood Movement in Metro Atlanta". May 26, 2022. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  6. 1 2 "The Cityhood Movement Is Defeated in Metro Atlanta". May 25, 2022. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  7. ↑ Dillon, Denise (November 9, 2022). "Voters choose to incorporate Mableton, making it Georgia's newest city". FOX 5 Atlanta. Archived from the original on December 24, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 "Residents of Suburban Atlanta's Newest City Are Already Trying to Secede". January 24, 2023. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  9. ↑ Dillon, Denise (January 18, 2023). "Some residents push to de-annex from newly-formed Mableton". FOX 5 Atlanta. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 "Q&A with Mableton mayoral candidates". Yahoo News. February 28, 2023. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Mableton de-annexation fails under the Gold Dome". Yahoo Finance. March 20, 2023. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  12. ↑ Dillon, Denise (March 20, 2023). "Polls open Tuesday to decide Mableton's first mayor, city council". FOX 5 Atlanta. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Mableton City Candidates" (PDF). www.mableton.org. March 21, 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  14. 1 2 "LaTonia Long leads fundraising race among Mableton mayoral candidates". Yahoo News. March 15, 2023. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Mableton Mayoral Candidate Michael Owens endorsed by former mayoral candidates". spotlightsouthcobbnews.com. April 3, 2023. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Mableton mayoral candidates offer their plans for trash service". Yahoo Finance. March 16, 2023. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Michael Murphy". Georgia Black Republican Council. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Cobb County Democrat Dr. Michael Owens enters race for Georgia Secretary of State". spotlightsouthcobbnews.com. September 26, 2021. Archived from the original on December 24, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  19. ↑ Johnson, Larry Felton (March 3, 2023). "Roy Barnes Endorses Michael Owens In Mableton Mayoral Race". Cobb County Courier. Archived from the original on December 24, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  20. ↑ "News leading up to the election of Mableton mayor and council". spotlightsouthcobbnews.com. March 20, 2023. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  21. 1 2 Johnson, Larry Felton (April 12, 2023). "Owens receives endorsement from Sheriff Craig Owens, District 1 Councilman-elect Ron Davis in his mayoral bid for Mableton". Cobb County Courier. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  22. ↑ Mableton, Michael Owens for Mayor of. "Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council Supports Owens for Mayor". Michael Owens for Mayor of Mableton. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Election Results: City of Mableton, Clayton County special elections". FOX 5 Atlanta. March 21, 2023. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  24. ↑ "City of Mableton elects first mayor, city council". WSB-TV Channel 2 - Atlanta. April 19, 2023. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
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