Mann comes in ahead; sheriff’s race goes to runoff

Residents will have to wait another two months for a new sheriff after a close race forced a runoff election between incumbent Sheriff Jeff Mann and former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones.

By press time, with 112 out of 189 precincts reporting, Mann led with 39 percent of the overall vote with Jones trailing at 22 percent. Atlanta Police sergeant Melvin Mitchell received 14.84 percent of the vote.

Mann, who replaced former Sheriff Thomas Brown after he resigned to run for Congress, received approximately 12,765 votes, putting him at 39.44 percent. Jones received 7,229 votes and approximately 22.34 percent of the vote.

At press time, Mann told The Champion that he remained optimistic in avoiding a runoff but that he was extremely proud of the way his campaign has been run.

“In the event that there is a runoff we will continue to put our message out there to make sure that the [residents] of DeKalb County know the excellence of the sheriff’s office and the work that we’ve accomplished in the past 14 years,” Mann said.

For the last 14 years, Mann has served under Brown as chief deputy and was responsible for administering the day-to-day operations of the DeKalb County Jail, court and administrative divisions.

Mann also reportedly played an integral role in managing the office’s approximately $78 million budget for more than a decade.

Jones, who has lived in DeKalb County for nearly 30 years, served as a legislator in the Georgia House of Representatives for eight years before serving two terms as CEO.

Jones could not be reached by press time.

Results for the others candidates in the sheriff’s race by press time are as follows: retired DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputy Dale Bernard Collins received 3.99 percent; retired U.S. DEA agent Ted Golden received 4.46 percent; DeKalb County Police sergeant R. Tony Hughes received 5.84 percent; former Georgia Piedmont Technical College Assistant Police Chief Melody Maddox received 7.3 percent; and retired Atlanta Police officer, and GBI and FBI agent LaSalle Smith received 1.79 percent of the vote.