This story has been updated. 

DeKalb County, GA — The May 21 election will significantly change the DeKalb County Board of Education.

Three incumbent school board members declined to run again. In addition, incumbent legislators in DeKalb County will face primary challengers this year. Early voting will begin on April 29.

Three board members—Anna Hill, Vicki Turner, and Dr. Joyce Morley—decided not to run again. All three were involved in a controversial decision to fire previous superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris in 2022. In addition, one board member who voted against that decision, Deirdre Pierce, picked up a challenger this year.

The elections also affect local government in another way. Candidates holding elected office and qualifying to run for a different office usually vacate their seats. Two county commissioners who qualified to run for CEO had to leave their current seats to do so while a third will remain on the commission. For more information about why that happened and the process for filling those vacancies, click here.

Here are the candidates who qualified for local, state, and federal races in DeKalb County. Incumbents are noted with an (I) next to their name. When a race is nonpartisan, a candidate’s party affiliation will be listed as NP.

Decaturish will provide coverage during the election, including candidate Q&As, letters to the editor, and forums for some races. We are collaborating with Atlanta News First on a DeKalb County CEO forum. Forum dates and times will be announced when they are scheduled.

County races

Legislative races

Assistant Editor Zoe Seiler contributed to this story.

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