Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Matt Westmoreland
2018 - Present
2026
7
Matt Westmoreland is a member of the Atlanta City Council in Georgia, representing At-large Post 2. He assumed office in 2018. His current term ends on January 5, 2026.
Westmoreland is running for re-election to the Atlanta City Council to represent At-large Post 2 in Georgia. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.[source]
Westmoreland also held the District 3 seat on the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. He first won election to the board on November 5, 2013.
Biography
Westmoreland received his bachelor's degree in history from Princeton University and served as editor-in-chief of The Daily Princetonian. After graduation, he returned to Atlanta and became a history teacher at Carver Early College High School. He has served as a corps member with Teach for America. Matt has also served as chair of the Grady High School Foundation and as a member of the Carver Early College Local School Council. He took part in a 2012 Urban Leaders Fellowship with Colorado Senator Mike Johnston (D). He is a 2013 graduate of New Leaders Council-Atlanta, and he participated in a school board fellowship with Leadership for Educational Equity. He previously worked for the Atlanta Regional Commission, the D.C. Public Schools System, and in the D.C. office of U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D). Westmoreland has been an active member of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church.[1]
Elections
2025
See also: City elections in Atlanta, Georgia (2025)
General election
The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.
General election for Atlanta City Council At-large Post 2
Incumbent Matt Westmoreland is running in the general election for Atlanta City Council At-large Post 2 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Matt Westmoreland (Nonpartisan) | |
| ||||
 = 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 is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2021
See also: City elections in Atlanta, Georgia (2021)
General election
General election for Atlanta City Council At-large Post 2
Incumbent Matt Westmoreland defeated Sonya Russell-Ofchus in the general election for Atlanta City Council At-large Post 2 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Westmoreland (Nonpartisan) | 64.4 | 56,231 |
| Sonya Russell-Ofchus (Nonpartisan) | 35.1 | 30,627 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 429 | ||
| Total votes: 87,287 | |||
| = 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
The city of Atlanta, Georgia, held a general election for mayor, city council president, three at large council members, 13 by district council members, and two city judges on November 7, 2017.[2] Matt Westmoreland defeated Cory Ruth and Bret Williams in the general election for the At-Large Post 2 seat on the city council.[3]
| Atlanta City Council At-Large Post 2, General Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Matt Westmoreland |
63.54% | 48,078 |
| Cory Ruth | 24.98% | 18,898 |
| Bret Williams | 11.42% | 8,638 |
| Write-in votes | 0.06% | 48 |
| Total Votes | 75,662 | |
| Source: DeKalb County, Georgia, "Election Summary Report, November 7, 2017, Unofficial and Incomplete," November 7, 2017 and Fulton County, Georgia, "November 7, 2017 Municipal General and Special Elections," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
2013
- See also: Atlanta Public Schools elections (2013)
Westmoreland ran unopposed for the District 3 seat on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Atlanta Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Matt Westmoreland |
98.9% | 6,050 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in | 1.1% | 68 | |
| Total Votes | 6,118 | |||
| Source: Fulton County Board of Election, "Election Results," accessed October 30, 2017 | ||||
Funding
Westmoreland reported $37,047.50 in contributions and $1,126.79 in expenditures to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission , which left his campaign with $35,920.71 on hand.[4]
Endorsements
Westmoreland did not receive any official endorsements for his campaign.
Campaign themes
2021
Matt Westmoreland completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Westmoreland's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- Prioritized public safety, voting for historic 30 percent pay raises for our first responders.
- Established a middle-wage jobs fund and created affordable housing with a $100 million housing opportunity bond
- Invested in our city's parks, streets, and sidewalks by updating our impact fees ordinance for the first time in a generation.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2017
Westmoreland's campaign website included the following themes for 2017:
| “ |
Economic Development |
” |
| —Matt Westmoreland (2017)[6] | ||
2013
Westmoreland identified the following campaign themes for 2013:[7]
| “ |
Great leaders and great teachers in every school"We have to invest in recruiting, training, and retraining extraordinary educators so that every child learns from the best. We need inspiring principals who set high standards in their buildings, and effective teachers who set high standards in their classrooms. Effective teachers are the single-most important factor as we seek to challenge and engage all students— high-performers, average learners, and those who are behind. And they are critical for us to give adequate support to our English Language Learners and special needs students. We need to support them with practical professional development and constructive feedback to improvement student performance. And we should create an administrative pipeline to put talented teachers in leadership positions. Every year, we hire dozens of new teachers, which presents an incredible opportunity to transform our schools if we successfully find, keep, and develop extraordinary teachers year after year." Focus on early childhood education"Early education must be one of our highest priorities. The first five years are so important for the development of a child's mind. We’ve seen over and over again the impact that meaningful preschool has on long-term student outcomes-- especially for kids from lower-income backgrounds . Early childhood education is essential for all students and should be a reality for every family. We must work to expand these programs so every student has the foundation necessary to achieve. Making such an investment early on will pay huge dividends both for our kids and our entire community." Direct and frequent"Being accessible and responsive is essential to earning your trust, and I promise to return every e-mail and phone call. I will attend PTA, neighborhood, and community meetings to genuinely seek input. And I will regularly visit schools to develop relationships with principals, teachers, students, and parents. But I also know this issue extends to the entire system. The challenges of the cheating scandal, accreditation and redistricting, as well as board in-fighting and a general lack of communication, have led to anger, divisiveness, and a general lack of trust. It will take both time and a concerted effort to heal those wounds and regain that trust, but I commit to making sure our schools and system operate with transparency and the highest ethical standards." [5] |
” |
See also
2025 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Atlanta City Council At-large Post 2 |
Officeholder Atlanta City Council At-large Post 2 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Westmoreland for APS," "About Matt," accessed October 24, 2013
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2017 Elections and Voter Registration Calendar," accessed February 24, 2017
- ↑ City of Atlanta, "2017 General Municipal Election," accessed September 21, 2017
- ↑ Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, "Westmoreland, Matt" accessed December 26, 2013
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Matt Westmoreland 2017 campaign website, "Our Future," accessed October 12, 2017
- ↑ Westmoreland for APS, "Vision," accessed October 24, 2013
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Atlanta City Council At-large Post 2 2018-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Atlanta Public Schools school board District 3 2013-2017 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small}
