Ballot replacement for Lewis sought

In Atlanta, hundreds honor civil rights icon

Flowers, balloons, photos, candles and cards piled up at the base of the building where “HERO” was written above the painting of Lewis speaking.

Several people cried or prayed in the small parking lot nearby.

During a news conference alongside family members on Sunday, John Lewis’ youngest brother, Henry Grant Lewis, remembered the congressman and civil rights icon as “a great man and public servant, and even greater father, husband, brother and son.”

“He fought until the very end,” the Atlanta Journal-constitution quoted Henry Grant Lewis as saying. “That was my big brother. He was a fighter with a tenacious spirit. But he was always gracious and kindhearted.”

State law allows the Democratic Party to replace Lewis on the ballot in the 5th Congressional District, but the decision has to be made quickly for the district that includes much of the city of Atlanta.

The Democratic Party of Georgia was accepting applications for the nomination online until 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

A special seven-member committee of Democrats — including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, 2018 gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams and 2014 gubernatorial nominee Jason Carter — will choose between three and five candidates from the applicant pool.

The state party’s executive committee will then meet Monday, choose a nominee and submit the name to the Georgia Secretary of State by 4 p.m. Monday.

The nominee will face Republican Angela Stanton-king in November.

Mike Stewart The Associated Press People gather Sunday at a makeshift memorial near the home of Rep. John Lewis, D-GA., in Atlanta. Lewis, who died Friday at age 80, was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists who organized the 1963 March on Washington.