Early voting begins in District 5 to fill remainder of John Lewis' term
ATLANTA - Early voting begins today to fill the seat of the late civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis.
Seven candidates qualified for the special election including Democratic lawmaker "Able" Mable Thomas, former state lawmaker Keisha Waites, former Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall, Morehouse president emeritus Robert Franklin, and Barrington Martin, who challenged Lewis in this year's Democratic primary.
Minister Steven Muhammad is also running as an independent and Chase Oliver as a Libertarian.
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A few candidates who spoke to FOX 5 said they held off submitting their names out of respect for Lewis.
The winner of this special election, which is set for Sept. 29, will serve less than 100 days in Congress.
If none of the seven candidates wins a majority of votes, the top two will proceed to a runoff on Dec. 1, meaning that the winner's tenure will be 33 days if that happens.
Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) is photographed in his offices in the Canon House office building on March 17, 2009. (Jeff Hutchens/Getty Images)
The Georgia Democratic Party had previously selected state Sen. Nikema Williams to represent the party on the ballot in November.
Williams will face Republican Angela Stanton-King.
The winner of that race will serve a full two-year term.
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