By Stephen Kopko

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

GEORGIA, United States – Today the residents of Atlanta, Georgia will vote for a new mayor. This runoff election follows the November 4 general election that did not yield a clear winner. Mary Norwood, a white city council woman and Kasim Reed, a former African American state senator are the candidates competing for the mayoral office.

In 1973, Maynard Jackson became Atlanta’s first African American mayor. Since that election, Atlanta has elected only African Americans to its mayoral office. Norwood is the first serious non-African American contender to the office since the election of Jackson. 

Racial tensions are apparent in this mayoral election. In 2000, African Americans accounted for sixty-one percent of Atlanta’s population. In 2007, African American’s accounted for fifty-seven percent of the population. In the November 4 election, Reed and another African American candidate split the African American vote. This split allowed Norwood to gain the most votes in the November 4 election. However, Norwood did not receive a majority of votes to win the election. According to data acquired after the general election, Norwood received fifty-eight percent of her votes from Atlanta’s three predominately white districts.  Reed received fifty-seven percent of his votes from predominately African American districts. 

Similar to the general election, political pundits and political organizers believe that race will be a predominant factor in the runoff election. According to Michael Owens, a political science professor at Emory University, African Americans and whites have different views on the qualifications and issues that the new mayor needs to address. In August, two Clark University professors wrote a memo concerning the strategy of keeping African Americans in the mayoral seat. 

Despite the racial factor involved in the runoff election, some people believe that race is becoming less of a factor in voters selection of the next mayor of Atlanta. For example, Reverend Harrison Anderson, an African American, stated that he would be voting for Norwood. He cited Norwood’s commitment to help the poor and her visits to the poorer community in which he preaches as the reason for his vote. 

For more information, please see:

MSNBC – Race a Factor in Atlanta Mayor Vote – 1 December 2004

Atlanta Journal Constitution – Voting Along Racial Lines Mayor’s Race – 6 November 2009

Christian Science Monitor – Atlanta Mayoral Race 2009 Results are Murky on Race in Politics – 4 November 2009