In Victory Rusty Paul Speaks Humbly of Galambos, See Who Else Won and Lost

Mayor Eva Galambos was at the top of Rusty Paul’s victory speech on election night. 

“I have some amazing high heels to fill,” he said. “Our Mayor Eva Galambos -  and she’s still the mayor and will be probably forever - to have her support is probably one of the most amazing things to happen to me.”

Paul's election night party was held at J. Christopher's in City Walk shopping center. He acknowledged that Galambos is turning over a lifetime legacy. 

“If you don’t think I feel that on my shoulders, I do, because she worked unbelievable hard to make this city,” Paul said.

Paul explained that long ago, Robert Shaw - he and Paul are former Charter Commission members - encouraged him to understand that Sandy Springs is Galambos’ child.

Mayor Galambo led a 30-year effort to incorporate Sandy Springs and served as president of the Committee for Sandy Springs from 1975-2005. 

“Since I put that mindset in, my world changed for the better,” Paul said. 

His opponent Bob Brown said he accepted the voters’ decision. “Rusty is a good guy,” he said. “We probably both want the same thing, but in a different way. I wish him the best.” 

In other races, a run-off is expected in District 6. The heated race had five candidates. Andy Bauman had 40 percent of the vote, with 685 ballots cast in his favor. John Stoj received 29 percent of the vote with 495 votes. Patty Berkovitz was third with 26 percent of the vote and 442 ballots cast. 

See also: 'No Remedy' for Sandy Springs Voters Given the Wrong Ballot

Bauman commented on Facebook that the results do not include early voting.

In District 1, John Paulson was the only candidate to run unopposed.

In District 2, unseated Councilwoman Dianne Fries believes low voter turnout made the difference in the race.  Voters chose Ken Dishman as the new Councilman for that district.

A fraction of the 2,235 active voters in District 2 went to the polls on Tuesday. Fries said some folks may have been satisfied with how well Sandy Springs is doing overall and became complacent, not seeing a need to vote on Election Day.

In District 3, Graham McDonald won over Barbara Malone. He will take Chip Collins’ seat. Like Karen Meinzen McEnerny in District 2, Collins decided not to run for re-election.

In District 4, incumbent Gabriel Sterling won over Tochie Blad with 65 percent of the vote.

In District 5, incumbent Tibby DeJulio won over Clayton Cole by a 50 percent margin.