As the November 5 general election approaches, it is shaping up to be the first ever for the newest municipality in Northeast Georgia.
The City of Mulberry in northeast Gwinnett County was officially formed by voters in the May 21, 2024 primary election following state legislative approval earlier this year. A transition team was recently named by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to prepare the city for operations until a city council can be elected.
Those elections have drawn heavy participation, with 16 total candidates qualifying for the five available city council posts. The mayor of the city would be chosen among the council members at a later date.
The elections have also been the subject of multiple lawsuits by resident Stephen Hughes, who has filed multiple lawsuits since the city's charter was passed through the state legislature and signed by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
Hughes alleges that the city's charter is unconstitutional for multiple reasons, the most cited one being that it does not allow for Mulberry to levy property taxes. Hughes, who has received support from the Gwinnett County Government, is seeking to stop the elections and have the State Senate bill that created the municipality struck down. However, he has lost multiple lawsuits attempting to do so, most recently in a September 9 ruling by Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Tadia Whitner.
Hughes says he plans to appeal the ruling and continue fighting the city's creation, but there are now just seven weeks until the city's first council elections.
Despite there being five council districts, the Gwinnett County Board of Elections has ruled that all five races will be voted on at one polling place with a separate ballot from the rest of the general election. More details about the voting process can be found on the Gwinnett County elections page.
The full list of candidates is below, along with brief information on them provided by Gwinnett elections officials and a link to campaign websites or social media pages where available. The place of residence listed for the candidates is based on previous maps before the city's creation.
A link to the district map for Mulberry can be found here. The Mulberry City Council races are non-partisan.
District 1:
- Katherine Minchener - paralegal from Buford - campaign website
- Tim Sullivan - senior quality assurance analyst from Buford - campaign Facebook page
District 2:
- Robert Michael Coker - lawyer from Lawrenceville - campaign website
- Stephen G. Emert - attorney from Auburn
- Adebukola Faforiji - financial planner from Buford
- James Ricky Mangum - USPS employee from Braselton
- Mary Ellen Small - real estate agent from Buford - campaign website
District 3:
- Christopher Garth Cook - remodeling contractor from Dacula
- Ryan Mester - transportation worker from Buford
- Kyle Shields - elf-employed from Dacula - campaign website
District 4:
- Harris Jay Roth - retired software engineer and part-time bus driver from Auburn - campaign website
- Michael James Rudnick - fleet director from Hoschton - campaign Facebook page
District 5:
- Kevin Arocha - attorney from Dacula
- Doug Ingram - consultant from Dacula - campaign Facebook page
- Marland Roberts - retired mortgage banker from Dacula
- Michele Y. Sims - assistant district attorney from Dacula - campaign website
