Marietta Mayor Incumbent Barely Defeats 24-Year-Old Challenger, Sam Foster
The mayoral race for the Metro Atlanta city of Marietta has ended with the possibility of change on the horizon.
The Marietta mayor incumbent, 78-year-old Steve “Thunder” Tumlin, defeated his opponent, 24-year-old Sam Foster, in a tight race. According to Atlanta News First, Tumlin only won by 78 votes. Poll watchers called the vote at around 1 a.m. on Election Night.
Politicos watched to see if the GOP incumbent could be bested by the much younger Democrat, who had never held office before. Despite his inexperience, Foster had bright plans as Marietta’s mayor, growing to call the city home after attending Kennesaw State University in Marietta.
The IT systems engineer ran on a campaign of lower costs of living, improved public transportation, and increased safety. Foster grew his social media presence to explain his plans to make life easier for those within Marietta, located 20 miles north of Atlanta.
While Foster lost his first race, his numbers signal a slow but steady shift toward the left in the north Atlanta suburb. If he had won, he would have made history as the youngest Black mayor in Georgia history.
Previously covered by BLACK ENTERPRISE, Foster had lofty goals for Marietta, noticing the systemic issues in the city during his undergraduate years. Staying in Marietta after receiving his degree, he fostered community by leading a local nonprofit and attending city council meetings, sparking his idea to run for the top seat.
With a population of 60,972 recorded in the 2020 census, Foster sought to alleviate displacement while increasing accessibility and transparency in city government. Backed by local and national nonprofits such as The CollectivePAC, Candidates for Common Good, and Georgia Conservation Voters, Foster’s campaign proved historic, even though it did not result in a win.
Although politics in Marietta remain relatively unchanged, Foster remains among many Georgia Democrats hoping to carry a blue wave across the southern state. While he did not win, left-leaning voters still made history by electing two Democrats to the Public Service Commission, reshaping the political landscape ahead of the midterms.
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