Atlanta Unfiltered

Rep. Jill Chambers will be giving up her job as MARTA’s top watchdog, after losing her seat in the Georgia House of Representatives on Tuesday by about 275 votes to Democrat Elena Parent.

Chambers, first elected in 2002, has scrutinized and occasionally tormented the rapid-transit agency as chair of the Legislature’s MARTA Oversight Committee, also known as MARTOC. She’d questioned MARTA spending on lobbyists, pay raises, consultants, fitness equipment for employees, intricate bond deals and much more. And that was all before lunchtime.

Two first-term Democrats in the House — Pat Dooley of Marietta and Rep. Lee Thompson of Lawrenceville — also lost their bids for re-election Tuesday. Sam Teasley, a Realtor, will now represent Dooley’s District 38, while retired educator Valerie Clark takes over in Thompson’s District 104.

Three other House incumbents lost in party primaries last summer. They were Daniel Stout (R-Dallas), who had won former House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s seat in a special election, Cecily Hill (R-St. Marys) and Toney Collins (D-Conyers).