Special election set to fill lame duck House seat in Cobb

Quirk in timing means winner might not even vote on bill.

Call it a practice round — or just really bad timing.

Cobb County will hold a special election April 5 to fill the vacant House District 45 seat of former state Rep. Matt Dollar, but whoever wins shouldn’t get too comfortable in the new office.

Because of a quirk of the election’s calendar, the winner might not even vote on a single bill as a state lawmaker.

The special election for the east Cobb district will be held one day after the 2022 legislative session is scheduled to end, and about a month before voting begins for the May primary election, which determines the two major party candidates for races up and down the ballot. That includes Dollar’s old seat, which by law has to be filled in the interim.

To further complicate matters, the May election will be run under new legislative boundaries that are shifting due to redistricting that takes effect next year.

As a result, the stakes for the special election are unusually low. The winner won’t automatically earn a spot on the November general election ballot for the redrawn district. And, barring a special-called session of the state Legislature, it’s unlikely the person will do much legislating in the remainder of Dollar’s term this year.

Dollar, who championed the East Cobb cityhood movement, resigned in February to take a job as deputy commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia.

Early voting begins March 14 for the special election, and the last day to register is Monday. Four candidates have qualified to run, according to county election officials: Democrat James Dustin Mccormick and Republicans Pamela Alayon, Mitchell Kaye and Daryl Wilson.

State Rep. Sharon Cooper, who is being drawn out of her district and into Dollar’s, is running for election in the new District 45 in November and is considered the front runner to nab the Republican nomination.