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Jaha Howard
Jaha Howard (Democratic Party) is a member-elect of the Georgia State Senate, representing District 35.
Howard (Democratic Party) ran in a special election to the Georgia State Senate to represent District 35. He won in the special general runoff election on December 16, 2025.
Biography
Howard received his B.S. in 2003 and D.D.S in 2007 from Howard University and his M.S. in oral sciences with a pediatric specialist certificate from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2009. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. Howard's career experience includes working as a pediatric dentist and as the owner of A+ Pediatric Dentistry of Atlanta.[1]
Organizations and affiliations
- Wave of Excellence (Founder)
- Vinings Rotary
- American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
- LEAD Atlanta[1]
Elections
2025
See also: Georgia state legislative special elections, 2025
General runoff election
Special general runoff election for Georgia State Senate District 35
Jaha Howard defeated Roger Bruce in the special general runoff election for Georgia State Senate District 35 on December 16, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jaha Howard (D) | 51.9 | 3,229 |
 | Roger Bruce (D) | 48.1 | 2,993 | |
| Total votes: 6,222 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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General election
Special general election for Georgia State Senate District 35
The following candidates ran in the special general election for Georgia State Senate District 35 on November 18, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jaha Howard (D) | 32.6 | 5,132 |
| ✔ | | Roger Bruce (D) | 25.4 | 3,992 |
 | Joshua Tolbert (R) | 17.6 | 2,765 | |
 | Erica Denise Solomon (D) | 17.3 | 2,720 | |
| John Williams (D) | 5.3 | 832 | ||
 | Corenza Morris (Independent) | 1.8 | 290 | |
| Total votes: 15,731 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Howard in this election.
Howard ran for Cobb County Commissioner Board. Click here to learn more.
2024
Howard ran for Cobb County Commissioner Board. Click here to learn more.
2022
See also: Georgia Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2022
General election
General election for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Incumbent Richard Woods defeated Alisha Searcy in the general election for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Richard Woods (R) | 54.2 | 2,115,728 |
 | Alisha Searcy (D) | 45.8 | 1,788,671 | |
| Total votes: 3,904,399 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Alisha Searcy defeated Jaha Howard, James Morrow, and Currey Hitchens in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Alisha Searcy | 57.0 | 382,792 |
| Jaha Howard | 15.0 | 100,675 | |
 | James Morrow | 14.6 | 97,821 | |
 | Currey Hitchens | 13.5 | 90,514 | |
| Total votes: 671,802 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools
Incumbent Richard Woods defeated John Barge in the Republican primary for Georgia State Superintendent of Schools on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Richard Woods | 72.6 | 802,260 |
 | John Barge | 27.4 | 302,681 | |
| Total votes: 1,104,941 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Cobb County School District school board District 2
Jaha Howard won election in the general election for Cobb County School District school board District 2 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jaha Howard (D) | 100.0 | 31,088 |
| Total votes: 31,088 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Cobb County School District school board District 2
Jaha Howard defeated Angelia Pressley in the Democratic primary for Cobb County School District school board District 2 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jaha Howard | 61.9 | 4,009 |
 | Angelia Pressley | 38.1 | 2,467 | |
| Total votes: 6,476 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
A special election for the position of Georgia State Senate District 6 was called for November 7, 2017. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, a special runoff election between the top-two candidates was held on December 5, 2017. It featured two Democrats: Jaha Howard and Jen Jordan. Because there was no Republican in the runoff, this seat flipped from Republican to Democratic control. Although two Democratic candidates advanced in the November 7 election, the five Republican candidates in the election received a higher share of the overall vote than the three Democrats, winning 50.7 percent. Jen Jordan (D) won the runoff election with 64 percent of the vote and flipped the seat for Democrats.[2]
The candidate filing deadline was September 15.[3] The Democratic candidates who successfully qualified were Howard, Jordan, and Taos Wynn. Howard challenged Hill in the 2016 election. He lost by 3.8 points. The Republican candidates who successfully qualified were Charlie Fiveash, Kathy Eichenblatt, Leah Aldridge, Leo Smith, and Matt Bentley.
The seat became vacant following Hunter Hill's (R) resignation in September 2017 to focus on his run for governor.
| Georgia State Senate, District 6, Runoff Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Jen Jordan |
63.9% | 10,688 | |
| Democratic | Jaha Howard | 36.1% | 6,028 | |
| Total Votes | 16,716 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
| Georgia State Senate, District 6, Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jen Jordan (advanced to runoff) |
24.4% | 5,868 | |
| Democratic | Jaha Howard (advanced to runoff) |
22.5% | 5,408 | |
| Republican | Leah Aldridge | 18.4% | 4,431 | |
| Republican | Charlie Fiveash | 16.8% | 4,026 | |
| Republican | Matt Bentley | 11.2% | 2,695 | |
| Republican | Kathy Eichenblatt | 3% | 728 | |
| Democratic | Taos Wynn | 2.3% | 562 | |
| Republican | Leo Smith | 1.2% | 299 | |
| Total Votes | 24,017 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
2016
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Georgia State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 24, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 11, 2016.
Incumbent Hunter Hill defeated Jaha Howard in the Georgia State Senate District 6 general election.[4][5]
| Georgia State Senate, District 6 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Hunter Hill Incumbent |
51.92% | 42,338 | |
| Democratic | Jaha Howard | 48.08% | 39,201 | |
| Total Votes | 81,539 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
Jaha Howard ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 6 Democratic primary.[6][7]
| Georgia State Senate, District 6 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Jaha Howard (unopposed) | |
Incumbent Hunter Hill ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 6 Republican primary.[6][7]
| Georgia State Senate, District 6 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Hunter Hill Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jaha Howard did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Jaha Howard did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Howard issued the following statement regarding his bid for office:
| “ | I believe it’s important to be involved in the community. A result of our engagement is that we become aware of the challenges around us. When I encounter an issue, I like to work with people that have the knowledge, experience and passion to help find the best solutions; inaction is not an option. I share in the frustration and disgust with the political machine and its disconnected lawmakers. Reasonable Georgians feel completely left out of the process. I plan to make sure their voices are heard. I will listen carefully to different perspectives and value each point of view. This is the only way to ensure that Our Georgia becomes stronger. | ” |
| —Jaha Howard, [1] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Georgia State Senate District 35 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Information submitted through Ballotpedia's biographical submission form on May 24, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Unofficial Results," accessed December 5, 2017
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Calls for Special Elections," accessed September 8, 2017
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election results," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed March 13, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Georgia Secretary of State, "General primary results," accessed May 24, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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