Atlanta's Mayoral Runoff Race Is A Sprint
In Atlanta, the runoff to choose the city's next mayor has begun. City Councilwoman Mary Norwood was the top vote-getter in Tuesday's primary election and she's running against former state senator Kasim Reed. Both candidates have spent the past few days trying to raise money and rally their supporters. But they don't have much time; the election is only three weeks away. NPR's Kathy Lohr reports.
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LIANE HANSEN, host:
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Liane Hansen.
The race to be the next mayor of Atlanta is still going on since no candidate received a majority in last Tuesday's election. A city councilwoman who got the most votes could be Atlanta's first white mayor since 1974. She faces a former state senator, who is black, in a runoff December 1st.
NPR's Kathy Lohr reports.
KATHY LOHR: The issues in the campaign are crime, fiscal accountability and the kind of future residents want for Atlanta. Mary Norwood calls herself the candidate of change. She got 46 percent of the vote, even with six candidates in the race.
Ms. MARY NORWOOD (Atlanta Mayoral Candidate): Anyone who knows Mary Norwood knows that I'm not part of the current regime.
LOHR: Norwood has been a city councilwoman for eight years and a neighborhood activist for some two decades. Norwood's campaign raised $1.5 million and ran the most TV and radio ads.
Ms. NORWOOD: We are gearing up for the next round of broadcasts. We are gearing up for the field operation so that we've got ambassadors out in over 175 neighborhoods across the city who are calling people, encouraging people to go back to the polls.
(Soundbite of phone calls)
Ms. JANICE HALL (Volunteer): I'm doing great. How about you? You still on board with Mary? Excellent, excellent.
LOHR: Janice Hall is one of dozens of volunteers calling Norwood's supporters. The campaign has focused on grassroots work, attracting black and white residents who feel they don't have a voice at city hall. Norwood received about 30 percent of the African-American vote.
(Soundbite of chanting)
Unidentified People: Kasim Reed for mayor. Kasim Reed for mayor.
(Soundbite of cheering)
LOHR: Kasim Reed and his supporters stood and waved the campaign's red, white and blue sign on a street corner near the Martin Luther King historical site last week. Reed was Mayor Shirley Franklin's campaign manager, a state representative and state senator. He says early on, many counted him out, but he surged to a second place finish.
Mr. KASIM REED (Atlanta Mayoral Candidate): What we realized was as I was introduced to citizens, voters came to me consistently. Every time we polled, my numbers went up.
LOHR: Reed acknowledges race has been an issue in the campaign. He was the first to condemn a memo that called for the African-American community to unite behind a single black candidate in order to defeat Norwood. Reed raised the most money at $1.6 million. And he also got the endorsement of civil rights leader and former mayor Andrew Young.
Mr. REED: It was a difference maker in the campaign because he is an institution in the city and he helped to build it - a leader who certainly embraces diversity and has lived it. And that's the kind of leader that I want to be.
LOHR: Norwood doesn't talk much about race and, when pressed, says it's not a factor.
Ms. NORWOOD: Race is not what this campaign is all about. This campaign is about wonderful people who live all across the city who are expecting more from their city government.
HANSEN: But the complexion of the city has changed over the past three decades. 56 percent of the city is still African-American. But more whites have moved in. Middle class blacks have moved out. And Atlanta's public housing complexs have been demolished, displacing some of the black vote.
Michael Leo Owens is a political scientist at Emory University.
Professor MICHAEL LEO OWENS (Political Science, Emory University): This may be ushering a new era of racial politics in the city of Atlanta. Perhaps we would call it something to the effect of post-black politics where African-American voters are becoming far more strategic in terms of how they use their votes than they have done in the past in the case of the city of Atlanta.
LOHR: Residents are split over their choice for mayor. And many voters, including Ed Rogen, say the city needs a leader that responds to the entire community.
Mr. ED ROGEN: I think one of the great strengths of Atlanta is that over the years it has had a dialogue between black and white. And I'm optimistic that we can continue that.
LOHR: Political analysts say it will be difficult for voters here to ignore race, whether or not they choose to acknowledge it directly.
Kathy Lohr, NPR News, Atlanta.
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