Tuesday's runoff election returned an openly gay East Point City Council member to office, but saw an Atlanta School Board candidate attacked in transphobic mailers go down in defeat.
East Point City Council member Lance Rhodes, seeking his third term, was instrumental in getting domestic partner benefits passed for city employees.
Rhodes garnered 49.52 percent of the Nov. 8 general election vote while Karen Rene received 45.22 and Marie T. Williams got 5.05, according to official Fulton County election results. Because no candidate achieved 50 percent plus one vote, the top two advanced to the runoff.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial results from the Fulton County Board of Elections showed Rhodes winning the East Point Election with 52.32 percent of the vote, or 383 votes, and Rene with 47.68 percent, or 349 votes.
Rhodes was endorsed by LGBT political group Georgia Equality for the third time and also received the endorsement of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund for the third time.
