As Braves fans popped the champagne following their historic World Series victory, another high-profile contest in Atlanta appears to be heading for extra innings.
The race for Mayor of Atlanta will be advancing to a runoff election on November 30. Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore easily claimed a spot in the contest on Tuesday, taking 41% of the vote in the nonpartisan election. A candidate must earn more than 50% of the vote in order to win outright and avoid a runoff.
The question that remains unanswered this morning: who will Moore face in the runoff election? Former Mayor Kasim Reed, who was seen by many as a shoo-in for a spot in the runoff, trailed City Councilman Andre Dickens for second place by fewer than 500 votes as of Wednesday morning. Reed can request a recount under state law if he and Dickens end up being separated by a margin smaller than half of a percentage point.
Dickens declared victory early Wednesday morning, but second place has yet to be called by any major news organization.
The result would be a major shakeup in the race for City Hall. Reed, seeking to capitalize on his high name recognition, was seeking to become the first former mayor to wage a successful comeback bid since Maynard Jackson. He led the field in fundraising, raising nearly $3 million since entering the race in the spring. He also touted endorsements from the city’s police and firefighters’ unions.
But not all of his name recognition was positive: several of his former administration and campaign officials have been fined, indicted and convicted in multiple corruption investigations. Reed himself has not been charged with a crime and decried the investigations as politically motivated.
Dickens, a tech consultant and a deacon, appears to have ridden a wave of late momentum in the closing weeks of the campaign. He was recently endorsed by former Mayor Shirley Franklin, the first female mayor in Atlanta history. Franklin called Councilman Dickens the most qualified candidate in the race. “He’s honest, he’s hardworking but he is also very innovative,” she said in an interview. “I think he is the right person for this time and moving forward.”
The election for mayor is largely centered around the issue of public safety. The increase in violent crime has many residents on edge, and some neighborhood activists in the northern Atlanta community of Buckhead are plotting a path to break away from Atlanta to form their own city and police department to help fight the rise in crime.
For the most part, the leading candidates for mayor seem to oppose the Buckhead cityhood movement. And they have each offered detailed solutions to fight the crime problem, such as hiring more police officers and mending the sour relationship between City Hall and APD.
For many Atlanta voters, the upcoming runoff election will be their sixth time voting in the last eighteen months. The seemingly never-ending campaign cycle could be leading to what one candidate is calling “voting fatigue,” which is leading to low-turnout in these municipal contests. Around 95,000 votes were cast in Tuesday’s mayoral race, so don’t expect a surge in turnout for the runoff election.