The filing deadline for the Atlanta District 3 city council special election passed on January 25, 2019. The general election is on March 19, and a runoff election will be held on April 16 if no candidate receives a majority of the vote

 

The election was called after Ivory Lee Young Jr. died in November 2018 while in office. The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of Young’s four-year term, which ends in 2021.

 

A total of 10 candidates filed to run in the nonpartisan race: Byron Amos, Antonio Brown, Ricky Brown, Matthew Charles Cardinale, Greg Clay, Patricia “Granny P” Crayton, Erika Estrada, Mesha Mainor, Jabari Simama, and Shalise Young. Amos previously served on the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education but stepped down after qualifying for the city council race. Clay lost to Councilman Young in the 2017 general election. Shalise Young was Councilman Young’s wife.

 

Atlanta held city elections in 2017 for mayor, city council president, all 15 seats on the city council, and 10 city judges. During that election, Districts 4 and 11 had the most candidates on the ballot with eight each. Both districts held general runoff elections after no candidate received over 50 percent of the vote.

 

Atlanta is the largest city in Georgia and the 39th-largest city in the U.S. by population.