Former candidate Steve Bradshaw endorses Larry Johnson in DeKalb County CEO runoff

Eliminated candidate Steve Bradshaw has endorsed Larry Johnson in the Democratic primary runoff election for DeKalb County CEO.

Bradshaw finished a distant third in the May 21 primary race with 19% of the vote. Lorraine Cochran-Johnson garnered 46%, and Johnson 34%. The runoff is scheduled for June 18.  All three candidates had served on the DeKalb County Board of Commission.

A statement released by Bradshaw cited Johnson’s capabilities and compassion as two of the key reasons for his support.

“I have served as a colleague with Larry Johnson on the Board of Commissioners for over seven years. And I have seen his capabilities and his compassion up close; therefore, I am excited to endorse Larry Johnson to become the next CEO of DeKalb County,” Bradshaw said.

During an Atlanta Press Club debate televised on GPB-TV in late April, Bradshaw and Cochran-Johnson exchanged jabs. Bradshaw accused Cochran-Johnson of taking COVID-19 relief funds for a restaurant she owned, and Cochran-Johnson claimed that Bradshaw committed an ethics violation when he didn’t recuse himself from voting on a 2021 zoning bill on a property that was adjacent to his own.

Both denied the accusations, with Bradshaw saying that he was told that the vote did not violate any ethics codes, and Cochran-Johnson saying that the restaurant in question, Annie’s Crab Kingdom, is owned by her aunt.

In mid-May, the DeKalb County Board of Ethics announced it was investigating a complaint filed against Commissioner Steve Bradshaw regarding the matter.

Bradshaw has served on the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners since 2017. He is the former presiding officer of the Board of Commissioners.

Cochran-Johnson was elected to the Board of Commissioners in 2018.

Johnson has served as a DeKalb County commissioner since 2002. At age 33, he became one of the youngest commissioners ever elected to serve on the board.

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