FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Georgia Equality Releases 2021 Candidate Endorsements
October 8, 2021 — Today, Georgia Equality, the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, released its list of endorsed candidates for the upcoming municipal elections happening on November 2, 2021.
“During municipal elections, voters may tend to be less engaged than during higher profile years, but these races couldn’t be any more important to our work,” said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality. “Right now, thirteen Georgia cities and counties protect LGBTQ people from discrimination and this year’s endorsed candidates will help grow that number when they are elected. We’re particularly focused on the City of Tucker, where we hope to help elect Robin Biro for Mayor and Imani Barnes and Alexis Weaver to City Council– to shift the politics so that Tucker can join the growing list of municipalities in Georgia to protect LGBTQ folks and others from discrimination.”
“Our focus as an organization continues to be the advancement of laws and policies that level the playing field for LGBTQ Georgians and LGBTQ folks that visit our state,” said Kenyatta Mitchell, chair of the Georgia Equality Board of Directors. “These endorsements reflect the critical need to win this fight at the local level–where so many of the issues important to LGBTQ people are governed. Perhaps the best example is the continued struggles we see with the City of Atlanta’s administration of the Housing Opportunity for People living with AIDS (HOPWA) program. There is a great deal of opportunity for leadership on this matter and we look forward to the candidates continuing to outline the steps they would take to ensure people living with HIV in metro Atlanta get access to housing.”
Key Election Dates:
Advance In-Person (Early) Voting begins: October 12, 2021
State-wide Saturday Voting: October 16, 2021
Election Day: November 2, 2021
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Endorsed Candidates:
During a period in which many people seeking elected office are supportive of the LGBTQ community, the Georgia Equality Board of Directors will issue an endorsement for a candidate who we feel is best placed to advance our policy agenda. The lack of an endorsement should not necessarily be viewed as a negative reflection of a particular candidate’s views on LGBTQ issues in general.
City of Atlanta
City Council, Post 2, at-large: Matt Westmoreland (i)
City Council, District 5: Liliana Bakhtiari*
City Council, District 6: Alex Wan*
City Council, District 9: Devin Barrington-Ward*
City Council, District 10: Andrea Boone (i)
City Council, District 11: Marci Collier Overstreet (i)
City Council, District 12: Joyce Sheperd (i)
Board of Education, District 4: Mikayla Arciaga
Board of Education, District 7 at-large: Royce Mann & Stephen Spring* (dual endorsement)
Board of Education, District 8 at-large: Cynthia Briscoe-Brown (i)
Board of Education, District 8 at-large: Jason Esteves (i)
City of Brookhaven
City Council District 2: John Park (i)
City Council District 4: John Funny
City of Clarkston
City Council: YT Bell
City Council: Susan Hood
City Council: Larry McClam
City of Decatur
City Council, District 1 Post A: Kelly Walsh (i)
City of Doraville
City Council, District 2: Christopher Henshaw
City of Hapeville
City Council, at-large: Brett Reichert*
City of Tucker
Mayor: Robin Biro*
City Council, District 2 Post 1: Imani Barnes*
City Council, District 3 Post 1: Alexis Weaver
City of Atlanta – Additional Assessed Candidates
Due to the large number of candidates seeking some offices in the City of Atlanta, the board has chosen to assess multiple candidates as ‘Satisfactory’ based on their responses to our survey, with a plan to reassess that decision ahead of the inevitable runoff election. Candidates not listed as ‘Satisfactory’ either did not submit a survey, or the responses they submitted were found to be insufficient by the board.
Mayor of Atlanta
Antonio Brown*: Satisfactory
Andre Dickens: Satisfactory
Nolan English: Satisfactory
Sharon Gay: Satisfactory
Rebecca King: Satisfactory
Felicia Moore: Satisfactory
Kasim Reed: Satisfactory
Glenn Wrightson: Satisfactory
City Council President:
Natalyn Archibong: Satisfactory
Courtney English: Satisfactory
Doug Shipman: Satisfactory
City Council Post 1, at-large:
Michael Julian Bond (i): Satisfactory
Alfred “Shivy” Brooks: Satisfactory
Brandon Goldberg*: Satisfactory
Todd Gray: Satisfactory
Jereme Sharpe*: Satisfactory
City Council Post 3, at-large:
Jacki Labat: Satisfactory
Ralph Long III: Satisfactory
Jodi Merriday: Satisfactory
Keisha Waites*: Satisfactory
Sherry Williams: Satisfactory
City Council District 1:
Nathan Clubb: Satisfactory
Russell Hopson: Satisfactory
Kelly-Jeanne Lee*: Satisfactory
Jason Winston: Satisfactory
City Council District 3:
Byron Amos: Satisfactory
Erika Estrada: Satisfactory
Keona Jones: Satisfactory
Elijah Porter: Satisfactory
City Council District 4:
Rogelio Arcila: Satisfactory
Larry Carter II: Satisfactory
Jason Dozier: Satisfactory
Kim Scott: Satisfactory
* denotes an openly LGBTQ candidate
To learn more about our endorsed candidates, please visit: www.georgiaequalitypac.org/2021-endorsements/