As a quick public service announcement: if you like nice things, municipal elections are this year.
This reminds me of a City Council meeting I once attended, where someone actually came just to argue against a new park near his house because he didn’t want out-of-state kids playing there. If you don’t want people like that running your city, do your homework: research candidates, ask questions, and most importantly– vote this Tuesday November 4, 2025. Advanced voting is October 14-31.
Check your registration at the Georgia My Voter Page and double-check that you actually live inside city limits if you’re expecting to vote for City Council this year.
It only takes a 20 seconds to check if you live in a city or not by following these instructions:
- Go to your My Voter Page and enter in your First Initial, Last Name, Birthday, and County (No, we don’t know what happens if you have a twin that has the same first initial and also lives in Cobb…)
- Click on “View My Precinct Card”
- Look to see if there’s a city listed on your Precinct Card under “municipal”. If there is, that’s the city you live in!
Check out an example precinct card below (where it says “Municipality in the bottom right…that means they live in Marietta! If you don’t have a “Municipality code”, it means you live in unincorporated Cobb.)
It’s important to check because we’ve met so many people that think they live in a city because of their zip code or address, but the truth is they live outside of the city limits. Unincorporated Cobb sneaks up on you like that (especially with the janky maps and gerrymandering of city limits and all that fun stuff)
Here is the entire list of contested seats on the ballot this year:
- Acworth: Kimberly Haase is challenging incumbent Tim Richardson for Alderman Post 4.
- Austell:
- Post 1 (At Large): Melanie Marie Elder vs. incumbent Jonathon Foster
- Ward 1: Derek Caffe vs. incumbent Marlin Lamar, Jr.
- Ward 3: Shawndra Williams vs. incumbent Meredith Adams
- Kennesaw: Donovan Giardina and Jonathan Bothers are running for the open At-Large Post 3 seat.
- Mableton:
- District 2: Michael McNeely vs. incumbent Dami Oladapo
- District 4: Cassandra Brown vs. incumbent Patricia Auch
- Marietta:
- Mayor: Sam Foster vs. incumbent Steve “Thunder” Tumlin
- Ward 1: Anthony McCalla vs. incumbent Cheryl Richardson
- Ward 2: Akella Clore, Vicki Lucas, and Jason Waters (open seat)
- Ward 3: Nora Gaudet vs. Daniel Gaddis (open seat)
- Ward 4: West House vs. Tee Anderson (open seat)
- Ward 5: Reggie “Game Changer” Copeland and Kenneth Wright vs. incumbent Carlyle Kent
And here are the uncontested seats:
- Acworth: 2 uncontested
- Kennesaw: 2 uncontested
- Marietta: 2 uncontested
- Mableton: 1 uncontested
- Powder Springs: 3 uncontested — including Ward 1, which was vacant. Congrats to Raja Antone on winning your election on qualifying day (August 18, 2025).
Side note: What is going on in Marietta?
- Acworth is still calling their councilmembers “aldermen.” What is the story behind this oddity?
- On the Marietta ballot you’ll see nicknames like “Thunder” and “Game Changer.” Is there an inside joke somewhere here?
- Honestly, what is going on in Marietta politics right now?
Why does this matter?
Because it’s good to have challengers in elections. When officials sit unopposed year after year, things stagnate. No new ideas, no pressure to get things done. That holds all of us back. That’s why A Better Cobb shows up at local meetings to advocate for things: better land use, stronger neighborhoods, and investments that make our communities thrive.
And coming soon: A Better Cobb will also have a questionnaire for the candidates, so voters can see who really supports Strong Towns issues like housing, transit, and land use — in other words, who’s for building nice things in our communities.
Be sure you’re on our mailing list so you’ll get the results of our ranking on which candidates support our vision for A Better Cobb and who wants to hold us back.
And in case you’re wondering: Smyrna hasn’t been mentioned — all of their council seats and Mayor are up in 2027.
