Georgiaâs Biggest Democratic Bastion May Hand Democratic Candidate for Mayor a Big Defeat
Mary Norwood
Her opponent   City Council Member Mary Norwood   is a conservative-leaning independent who has supported both Republicans and Democrats in the past  and  she  has the support of what Republican Party infrastructure actually exists in Atlanta.  Norwood  is also white  while Lance-Bottoms is African-American. The last white candidate to win the mayorâs race in Atlanta was Sam Massell in 1969 . The state party has come out with heavy-handed attack ads deriding  Norwood  as a Republican  a signal to the cityâs voters of who they are backing. Their argument is laid out on a website called MaryTheRepublican.com   where they point out she has paid some Republican consultants as part of her campaign  that she refused to back Jon Ossof in his congressional race  and that she implied to a local Republican Party group that she is an independent because Republicans canât win in Atlanta.
But some of the polling shows that the race is a dead heat. A survey released late Friday night showed  Norwood  with a 6-point lead â and significant crossover support among African-American voters and Democrats.
Many political activists in Atlanta cite Reed as the reason some progressives are rallying to  Norwood . Reed has been the consummate neoliberal mayor  close to contractors and developers  and hostile to the cityâs activist movement on issues like affordable housing â while avoiding much of the progressive policies other big-city mayors are using to tackle income disparities. The New York Timesâs Thomas Friedman once held the Reed administration up as a model for its willingness to cut back the pensions of its public workers. As The Intercept noted in an article profiling Fortâs bid earlier this year  Atlanta has been ranked as the most unequal city in the country.
 Mary Norwood   candidate for mayor  gives volunteer Jerome Whitaker a hug for  his  support at  her  headquarters Tuesday  Nov. 7  2017  in Atlanta. Photo: Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution /AP
Tim Franzen  a longtime organizer who worked for Fortâs campaign  told The Intercept that while he plans to vote for the conservative Norwood  heâs not endorsing  her  or  her  politics. But he explained the dynamics that are leading many progressives to consider a  Norwood  vote.
âThereâs these narratives going around â one is that [this] is a Trump-Clinton situation. Itâs 100 percent not what we have here in Atlanta.  Mary Norwood  is a constituent-services politician.  She  always has been.  She âs not an ideological person â he explained.
Reedâs administration has also been the center of ethics scandals over the past few years over pay-to-play arrangements; his endorsement of and fundraising for Lance-Bottoms makes many question  her  own commitment to reform on the issue.
Some progressive Atlantans view Lance-Bottoms as a sort of third term for Reed and his ideas â a perception that is boosted by the generous financial backing airport contractors close to his administration have thrown her way. One Atlanta progressive news website that tracks votes on the city council ranks Lance-Bottoms as less progressive than  Norwood ; on issues like housing and homelessness  she has been a steady ally of Reed.
On the popular state political website GeorgiaPol.com  George Chidi â a former Bernie Sanders backer and Occupy Atlanta supporter â penned the post â A Black Voterâs Case for Mary Norwood .â  He  took the Democratic Party to task for taking the black vote in Atlanta for granted. âThe party fails to understand what Atlanta means to black people here  and everywhere in America  frankly â  he  wrote. âWe have a city that has the Gini coefficient of Caracas  nearly the widest gap in racial income in the country  and the lowest income mobility in America. In a recent symposium on racialized homelessness in Atlanta  a speaker noted that the average income of a black household in the city of Atlanta is under $30 000 a year. The average for a white household is over $80 000.â
In an interview with The Intercept  Chidi said he hopes  Norwood  would focus on corruption if she wins. âI hope she wonât be corrupt. I hope sheâll find those who are and see them punished â he said. âBy doing so  I hope sheâll maintain the cityâs international posture as a place to do business.â
And ultimately  the arguments that  Norwood  is a secret Republican fall flat in the face of her support base. Yes  she has courted Republicans as part of her campaign  but sheâs also courted Democrats and progressive independents â her list of endorsers proves that  as does the poll cited above that shows over 42 percent of Democrats in the city are backing her bid. Her stances on social issues in particular â supporting abortion rights and marriage equality â place her far out of step with Georgiaâs traditionally socially conservative Republican Party.
Franklin  the former mayor  alluded to Reedâs ethical issues and explained her rationale for endorsing a white candidate. âFor me  race was not the first issue â she said in her speech endorsing  Norwood . âCharacter  transparency  and integrity are the first issues for me.â (Norwood has come out for campaign donation limits on city vendors.)
Franzen shared Jonesâs torn feelings about  Norwood   whose politics are significantly more conservative than his. But in the end  he couldnât bring himself to vote for a continuation of the Reed regime.
âEveryday Atlantans are feeling the squeeze like they havenât felt in decades. So Iâm not passionate about  Mary Norwood   but I and other people who work on municipal issues have no other choice but to work against Keisha â Franzen reluctantly concluded.
Her opponent   City Council Member Mary Norwood   is a conservative-leaning independent who has supported both Republicans and Democrats in the past  and  she  has the support of what Republican Party infrastructure actually exists in Atlanta.  Norwood  is also white  while Lance-Bottoms is African-American. The last white candidate to win the mayorâs race in Atlanta was Sam Massell in 1969 . The state party has come out with heavy-handed attack ads deriding  Norwood  as a Republican  a signal to the cityâs voters of who they are backing. Their argument is laid out on a website called MaryTheRepublican.com   where they point out she has paid some Republican consultants as part of her campaign  that she refused to back Jon Ossof in his congressional race  and that she implied to a local Republican Party group that she is an independent because Republicans canât win in Atlanta.
But some of the polling shows that the race is a dead heat. A survey released late Friday night showed  Norwood  with a 6-point lead â and significant crossover support among African-American voters and Democrats.
Many political activists in Atlanta cite Reed as the reason some progressives are rallying to  Norwood . Reed has been the consummate neoliberal mayor  close to contractors and developers  and hostile to the cityâs activist movement on issues like affordable housing â while avoiding much of the progressive policies other big-city mayors are using to tackle income disparities. The New York Timesâs Thomas Friedman once held the Reed administration up as a model for its willingness to cut back the pensions of its public workers. As The Intercept noted in an article profiling Fortâs bid earlier this year  Atlanta has been ranked as the most unequal city in the country.
  [TGT] gives volunteer Jerome Whitaker a hug for   [TGT]   support at   [TGT]   headquarters Tuesday  Nov. 7  2017  in Atlanta. Photo: Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution /AP
Tim Franzen  a longtime organizer who worked for Fortâs campaign  told The Intercept that while he plans to vote for the conservative Norwood  heâs not endorsing  her  or  her  politics. But he explained the dynamics that are leading many progressives to consider a  Norwood  vote.
âThereâs these narratives going around â one is that [this] is a Trump-Clinton situation. Itâs 100 percent not what we have here in Atlanta.  Mary Norwood  is a constituent-services politician.  She  always has been.  She âs not an ideological person â he explained.
Reedâs administration has also been the center of ethics scandals over the past few years over pay-to-play arrangements; his endorsement of and fundraising for Lance-Bottoms makes many question  her  own commitment to reform on the issue.
Some progressive Atlantans view Lance-Bottoms as a sort of third term for Reed and his ideas â a perception that is boosted by the generous financial backing airport contractors close to his administration have thrown her way. One Atlanta progressive news website that tracks votes on the city council ranks Lance-Bottoms as less progressive than  Norwood ; on issues like housing and homelessness  she has been a steady ally of Reed.
On the popular state political website GeorgiaPol.com  George Chidi â a former Bernie Sanders backer and Occupy Atlanta supporter â penned the post â  [TGT]  .â   [TGT]   took the Democratic Party to task for taking the black vote in Atlanta for granted. âThe party fails to understand what Atlanta means to black people here  and everywhere in America  frankly â  he  wrote. âWe have a city that has the Gini coefficient of Caracas  nearly the widest gap in racial income in the country  and the lowest income mobility in America. In a recent symposium on racialized homelessness in Atlanta  a speaker noted that the average income of a black household in the city of Atlanta is under $30 000 a year. The average for a white household is over $80 000.â
In an interview with The Intercept  Chidi said he hopes  Norwood  would focus on corruption if she wins. âI hope she wonât be corrupt. I hope sheâll find those who are and see them punished â he said. âBy doing so  I hope sheâll maintain the cityâs international posture as a place to do business.â
And ultimately  the arguments that  Norwood  is a secret Republican fall flat in the face of her support base. Yes  she has courted Republicans as part of her campaign  but sheâs also courted Democrats and progressive independents â her list of endorsers proves that  as does the poll cited above that shows over 42 percent of Democrats in the city are backing her bid. Her stances on social issues in particular â supporting abortion rights and marriage equality â place her far out of step with Georgiaâs traditionally socially conservative Republican Party.
Franklin  the former mayor  alluded to Reedâs ethical issues and explained her rationale for endorsing a white candidate. âFor me  race was not the first issue â she said in her speech endorsing   [TGT]  . âCharacter  transparency  and integrity are the first issues for me.â ( [TGT]  has come out for campaign donation limits on city vendors.)
Franzen shared Jonesâs torn feelings about  Norwood   whose politics are significantly more conservative than his. But in the end  he couldnât bring himself to vote for a continuation of the Reed regime.
âEveryday Atlantans are feeling the squeeze like they havenât felt in decades. So Iâm not passionate about   [TGT]    but I and other people who work on municipal issues have no other choice but to work against Keisha â Franzen reluctantly concluded.