Eshé Collins is the expected winner of the Dec. 3 runoff election to replace the vacant Atlanta City Council Post 3 at-large seat after beating out Dr. Nicole “Nikki” Evans Jones.
The Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation called the race for Collins at 10:59 p.m. The Atlanta Board of Education board member beat out Jones, a small business owner with 60 percent or about 8,800 votes. Jones received about 5,800 votes.
In total, over 14,500 people voted in the runoff election. It’s an expected dip from the general election on Nov. 5 that coincided with the presidential election.
At the general election, a field of five candidates narrowed to two after no candidate got 50 percent of the vote. Evans Jones came closest with 40 percent, and Collins received 25 percent.
Since then, the duo has been duking it out for a seat that will represent the entire city.
The special election was held to fill a seat left vacant by Keisha Sean Waites in March, after she stepped down to run for Fulton County clerk. Collins will take over the remainder of Waites’ term.
She will serve on council through Dec. 31, 2025 until her seat is up for reelection – along with the rest of the city council seats.
Collins was born and raised in Atlanta. Alongside her consecutive elections to the Atlanta Board of Education since 2013, she is also a civil rights lawyer with a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Spelman College, a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Georgia State University and a Juris Doctor from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
The attorney and board member campaigned on three main areas: equitable development, education and youth empowerment and environmental sustainability. She elaborated on those positions through several questionnaires and two public forums.
Notably, Collins pushed for affordable housing, legacy resident support, subsidized city services, community policing and workforce development. She also came out in favor of light rail on the Beltline at a Nov. 21 forum.
But across the forums, the two candidates struggled to differentiate their positions – Collins largely stressed her experience as an elected leader ready to be a “day one” candidate rather than focus on any differences in platforms. Both candidates scored high on qualification sheets, too.
In the days leading up to the election, Collins received an endorsement from urbanism-oriented nonprofit Threat ATL.
The organization said in a public statement that Collins “has proven herself to be a person who listens to the voices of urbanism advocates.”
While the election result is yet to be 100 percent reported, with 96 percent of the votes counted Collins is the expected winner – and she’ll take on the role soon.
Collins must leave her Atlanta Board of Education position to take on the council role, though she has previously said the board will likely appoint someone to finish out her term through December 2025. The board will then hold an election for Collins’ former seat, along with Districts 2, 4 and the at-large seat 8 on Nov. 4 2025.
