- Jay Lin
NRI Pulse Staff Report
Atlanta, GA, Dec 2: Unofficial results indicate that Jay Lin defeated Chris Coughlin in Tuesday’s run-off elections to Johns Creek City Council Post 2. Lin led the race with 52.54 percent, or 1,676 votes against his opponent Chris Coughlin who was trailing with 47.46 percent, or 1,514 votes. Lin was elected to serve a full, four-year term for Post 2.
In the keenly watched Post 5 seat, Dr Nazeera Dawood put up a spirited fight against Stephanie Endres, who won with 57.82 percent, or 1,741 votes to Dawood’s 42.18 percent, or 1,270 votes.
Chris Coughlin has won the special election for the Johns Creek City Council Post 2 seat. Coughlin is leading fellow challenger Todd Burkhalter with 59.05 percent, or 1,661 votes. Burkhalter trails with 40.95 percent, or 1,152 votes.
Voter turnout for the run-offs was abysmal.Johns Creek has 36,891 registered voters, but only 2,322 or 6.3 percent voters cast ballots on Tuesday, reports Patch.
- Nazeera Dawood
Speaking to NRI Pulse, Nazeera Dawood said she would continue to be the voice for those who do not have a voice. “I will continue to speak about domestic abuse awareness, child sexual abuse prevention, women’s empowerment and respect and love for womanhood,” she said.
On her reasons for running, Dawood said: “When I announced my candidacy for the political process, everybody was surprised as to why I would want to get involved in the blood sport. I continued because I believed that if everyone shies away from the political process, it will not be accessible to the average person. I wanted to show that the political process can be a positive campaign in getting communities empowered and making it about them. I believed that since the decisions are made by political leaders, we should have a voice at the decision making table. So I continued this journey.”
Dawood said the campaign has been a challenging one as she had to deal with the viciousness of people who wanted to win no matter what.
“I have been threatened, (pressured) to withdraw, have been called names, have been accused of stuff, but I did not react to barking dogs. I believed in the bigger picture and the purpose of why I ran. I feel good that I did not give up in the middle and ran the race.”
Despite her loss, Dawood succeeded in mobilizing the community like never before, and sparked people’s interest in the political process. And that is no mean achievement.
