The Feb. 9 race is to fill the House District 90 seat of former state Rep. Pam Stephenson, whose daughter used a power of attorney to announce her mother’s resignation in September due to Stephenson’s personal health issues. HD 90 includes parts of DeKalb, Henry and Rockdale Counties.

Stephenson — who was first elected to the seat in 2004 — won the Democratic primary in June and no Republicans filed to run, so only Democrats were eligible for the special election.

The seven qualifying candidates are:

• Stan Watson, a former DeKalb commissioner who came in second to Stephenson in the Democratic primary for the HD 90 seat earlier this year.
• Greg Shealey, an entrepreneur who came in second in the HD 90 Democratic primary in 2018 and third in the primary earlier this year.
• Ed Williams, a community activist and educator who came in fourth in the nonpartisan primary for the DeKalb County Commission District 7 seat in 2018.
• Angela Moore, a public relations specialist who came in third in the Democratic primary for Secretary of State in 2010.
• Joel Thibodeaux, an internal auditor who came in second to Tonya Anderson in the Democratic primary for the state Senate District 43 seat in Lithonia in 2018.
• Diandra Hines, an account executive
• Valerie Murphy, a senior systems business analyst

Qualifying for the race took place Dec. 16-18. A runoff, if needed, will be held March 9, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The last day to register to vote for the election is Jan. 11. Advance in-person and absentee voting will begin Jan. 18.

Source: Decaturish