Board of Education Post 5

Tony Dowdy won the Post 5 Board of Education seat with 1,239 votes, or 63%, over Willie Washington’s 732 votes, or 37%.

“I am very honored and excited that I am going to be a school board member,” Dowdy said upon winning Tuesday night. “I’ve always been positive about the outcome but you never know. I’m very appreciative of my supporters and I wish my opponent the best. It’s going to be a learning process for me.”

This was Dowdy’s first time running for elected office. He is a salesperson in the concrete ready-mix business and was vice president of the Rockdale County Home Builder's Association for 15 years.

When reached by phone following the election Tuesday night Challenger Willie Williams gave the following comment:

 “I guess the people spoke and congratulations to Mr. Dowdy. I wish him all the best.” When asked about a future bid for a seat on the school board, he said “We will assess it to see where we are at …I wouldn’t discount it.”

In the July 31 Primary, Dowdy received 46 percent (6,783 votes) to Washington’s 23 percent (3,350 votes). Challengers Cornell Brown received 21 percent of the vote while Rodney Fanner received 11 percent.

House District 92

Tonya Anderson appeared to be the winner of the runoff with 51 percent, or 405 votes, while Doreen Williams received 49 percent, or 386 votes.

As of 10:30 p.m., educator Doreen Williams declined to comment on the results. In an email statement, she pointed out the difference between herself and Anderson was 19 votes. She said her campaign was going to wait until the vote count was certified on Aug. 25.

"Are we going to ask for a recount? We don't know yet. We're going to wait and see," said Williams.

Anderson could not be reached by press time.

After a five-way primary race on July 31, Anderson and Williams were the two top vote-getters with Anderson winning 1,088 votes, 25 percent, and Williams winning 1,061 votes, 24 percent.

District 92 had no incumbent as a result of the redrawing of the state House district map earlier this year.

UPDATE (Aug. 24, 6:11 p.m.): Anderson said in an emailed statement, "I would like to say thank you to the voters of both DeKalb and Rockdale County. Our district is geographically unique in that it is almost evenly split between both counties. Tuesday's runoff reflected that symmetry and I am excited to represent you in this new District. I am committed to working with you to bring jobs here, supports for our community, fully funding our public educational system and tackling the tough issues facing Georgia."

House District 113

The race was also close in the District 113 race for state representative, but the incumbent Dickerson won both Newton and Rockdale counties on her way to victory.

Dickerson won with a total of 56 percent of the vote (754 votes) to Sawyer's 43.9 percent (591 votes).

"It feels really good, because I feel like I've worked very hard to win this election and worked very hard as a legislator to represent everybody in the district, not just a county or a certain group of people," Dickerson said. "It's very important for me to live up to my slogan of ‘Pam for the People,' and I will continue to be the representative of the people."

Because there is no Republican candidate seeking the District 113 seat, Dickerson will serve another two-year term in the state house.

Dickerson said she will continue to work to pass house bills 680 and 681. H.B. 680 is a cyberbullying bill, while H.B. 681 is a bill designed to make it easier for school, churches and clubs to sell food at fundraisers by not making them meet the same food preparation standards as restaurants and not have to fill out lengthy applications nor pay a fee.

"I also plan to make education and healthcare a priority, and I'd like to continue to grow the women's wellness health fair, which we held for the first time this year. We need to make sure we are healthy and stay healthy."

Dickerson is a Delta flight attendant and part-time real estate agent and ran on a platform of promoting smaller class sizes for schools, protecting resident's homes values, promoting a bill to crack down on cyberbullying and working on health care, education and public safety issues.

Dickerson is involved in the Rotary Club of Rockdale, is active in her homeowners association and participates in the homeless ministry at Beulah Missionary Baptist Church in Decatur. She also participated in a representative leadership class at the state and is a member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.