2020 Macon mayoral election

2020 Macon County mayoral election

← 2016 May 19, 2020 (primary) August 11, 2020 (runoff) 2024 →

Candidate Lester Miller Cliffard Whitby Blake Sullivan Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Nonpartisan First round 17,011 42.36% 11,015 27.43% 5,457 13.59% Runoff 22,846 59.18% 15,756 40.82% Eliminated   Candidate Larry Schlesinger Marc B. Whitfield Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan First round 4,769 11.88% 1,868 4.65% Runoff Eliminated Eliminated

Mayor before election Robert Reichert Elected mayor Lester Miller

The 2020 Macon mayoral election took place on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, with a runoff election held on Tuesday, August 11, 2020. Incumbent Mayor Robert Reichert, the first mayor following the consolidation of Macon and Bibb County, was term-limited and could not run for re-election. After no candidate received a majority of the vote in the election, a runoff election was held, and County School Board President Lester Miller defeated Clifford Whitby, the former Chairman of the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority.

General election

Candidates

• Lester Miller, President of the Bibb County School Board ^[1]
• Larry Schlesinger, Bibb County Commissioner ^[2]
• Blake Sullivan, businessman ^[3]
• Clifford Whitby, former Chairman of the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority ^[4]
• Marc B. Whitfield, retired banker ^[5]

Results

2020 Macon mayoral primary election results ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Lester Miller	17,011	42.36%
	Nonpartisan	Cliffard Whitby	11,015	27.43%
	Nonpartisan	Blake Sullivan	5,457	13.59%
	Nonpartisan	Larry Schlesinger	4,769	11.88%
	Nonpartisan	Marc B. Whitfield	1,868	4.65%
	Write-in		34	0.08%
Total votes			40,154	100.00%

Runoff election

Results

2020 Macon mayoral election runoff ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Lester Miller	22,846	59.18%
	Nonpartisan	Cliffard Whitby	15,716	40.82%
Total votes			38,602	100.00%

References

1. Eason, Jenna (August 12, 2020). "Lester Miller defeats Cliffard Whitby, elected next Macon-Bibb County mayor". Macon Telegraph . Macon, Georgia . Retrieved June 11, 2025.
2. Savage, Randall (May 13, 2020). "Larry Schlesinger: Meet the Macon mayoral candidate who wants to bring the city's 'family' together". WMAZ-TV . Macon, Georgia . Retrieved June 11, 2025.
3. Savage, Randall (May 13, 2020). "Blake Sullivan: Meet the Macon mayoral candidate who wants to stop county infighting". WMAZ-TV . Macon, Georgia . Retrieved June 11, 2025.
4. Savage, Randall (May 13, 2020). "Cliffard Whitby: Meet the Macon mayoral candidate who wants to fight causes of crime and blight". WMAZ-TV . Macon, Georgia . Retrieved June 11, 2025.
5. Savage, Randall (April 5, 2020). "Cliffard Whitby: Meet the Macon mayoral candidate who wants to fight causes of crime and blight". Macon Telegraph . Macon, Georgia . Retrieved June 11, 2025.
6. Eason, Jenna (July 20, 2020). "State releases official election results. Here are final vote counts for Bibb County". Macon Telegraph . Macon, Georgia . Retrieved July 4, 2025.
7. Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections (August 14, 2020). "Election Summary Report - Closed Primary - BIBB - August 11, 2020" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 30, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2025.