Archive for the ‘Lisa Borders’ Category

In a conversation before Tuesday’s vote, 77-year-old Andrew Young recounted how he’d been lured into his race for mayor.

The former U.N. ambassador was called before the most powerful group of women in Atlanta — the mothers and grandmothers who led the resident associations for the city’s dismal public housing complexes.

They were a base unto themselves, wielding thousands and thousands of votes — support a politician of the 1980s couldn’t refuse.

Atlanta’s fortresses of poverty have disappeared, and their votes have vanished with them. A new political order is asserting itself — Tuesday’s vote was part of the process.

“In a way, the gay vote has replaced the poor vote in a lot of these areas,” Young said.

The impact of gay voters in Tuesday’s mayoral race was subtle, but measurable.

The candidate who won most of the endorsements from Georgia Equality and other gay institutions, City Council President Lisa Borders, placed only third.

But in the contest to replace Borders, …

Continue reading Look for Reed to challenge Norwood for the votes of gay Atlanta »

The end of campaigning for some Atlanta city council members now allows them to dip into the mayor’s race between Mary Norwood and Kasim Reed, according to my AJC colleague Eric Stirgus.

Reed got an unexpected nod Wednesday at the Atlanta Hotel Council’s monthly meeting from Councilman Ivory Lee Young, whose district includes several overwhelmingly African-American neighborhoods just west of the Downtown Connector.

Council members have largely been mum about their choice for mayor. For example, Councilwoman Clair Muller, who’s in a runoff for City Council President, declined Wednesday to say at the same luncheon who’s her choice for mayor.

Young, however, said he was going with Reed over Norwood. This, despite the fact that Norwood and Young have served together eight years on the council.

“Study the record and you will find the truth,” Young said, asserting Norwood hasn’t accomplished much on the council. “(Norwood) has been the hardest-working member we have (on the …

Continue reading A councilman’s endorsement in the ATL runoff for mayor »

Our number-crunchers are in the process of a full-body analysis of the Tuesday night returns in the Atlanta mayoral contest.

In the meantime, the Fulton County web site has been rather slow – no doubt due to the traffic. I’ve uploaded the precinct-by-precinct results into Google Docs, hoping that it be easier to read there.

Click here to read or download at your leisure.

In the meantime, here are some initial stats:

– One numerologist we know pointed out that vote totals for mayor (all candidates combined) came to 72,012. That is about 9,000 less than 2001 (81,047 votes), the last time the mayor’s office had some serious competition. So this latest contest suffered from serious voter apathy.

– In last year’s presidential contest, 192,000 city showed up.

– Total turnout was 24 percent, down from 41 percent in 2001. In that latter race, the top three finishers were Franklin with 40,715 votes, Rob Pitts with 26,844 and Gloria Tinubu with 12,969 votes). 2 others split 519 …

Continue reading A first round of number-crunching in the ATL mayor’s race »

Lisa Borders concedes defeat in the Atlanta mayoral race. Elissa Eubanks/AJC

When the issue of race poked its inevitable nose into the Atlanta mayoral contest, Lisa Borders — without fanfare or elaboration — declared herself a woman in the middle.

“I have never had the luxury of being black or white. I have always been part of the entire city,” she said in late August.

It was a remarkable admission, little remarked upon, for the woman once presumed to be the natural successor to Shirley Franklin — the perfect fit for a city whose demographics have begun to resemble the chocolate-and-vanilla swirl of Jello pudding.

But elections are often a celebration of polarities. People in the middle are the people left out. And as Tuesday’s returns ground to a finish, Borders became one of the first certainties of the evening.

The Rev. Joe Lowery, the Civil Rights octogenarian, had wondered a few weeks ago whether eight years of Franklin had feminized the office of mayor beyond the claim …

Continue reading The elimination of a woman in the middle »

If last-minute cash is any measure, don’t count Lisa Borders out of tonight’s Atlanta mayoral calculations.

Earlier this morning, we said that, among the mayoral candidates, Kasim Reed had filed the only 48-hour report, which records last-minute contributions over $1,000. He reported two $1,000 contributions — $1,000 from the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 732; and $1,000 from attorney Daniel Turner.

We now have the same report for Lisa Borders – though it still hasn’t been posted on the city of Atlanta web site. On Sunday and Monday, Borders raised a total $28,400 in her fight to claw her way into a runoff. Of that, $8,000 is a personal loan. (Reed has loaned himself close to $100,000.) See the Borders report here.

Among the donors: Vernon Jordan, the former civil rights leader-turned-investment banker. He gave $1,000 just yesterday. Jordan sits on the board of Howard University with Reed.

Editor’s note: Given the impending Atlanta mayoral election, instant commenting has …

Continue reading Lisa Borders raises last-minute cash in ATL mayor’s race »

State Rep. Ed Lindsey (R-Atlanta) sent out an e-mail to friends this morning:

Now this is funny – at least to me.

My friend Mary Norwood spent this weekend in the Atlanta mayoral race promoting her Democratic Party credentials and explaining away why she occasionally voted in the Republican primaries in recent years at her Buckhead Atlanta residence.

Lindsey cites an article from Atlanta Progressive News in which Norwood and her campaign explain:

In 2004, Norwood voted in the Republican Primary and the Republican Primary Run-off; this race included US House and legislature seats.

According to Norwood’s campaign manager Roman Levit, Norwood picked up a Republican ballot because in her State House district there was a competitive race between three or four Republicans and there was no Democrat in the race [the seat that State Rep. Ed Lindsey (R) holds], so she voted for the least radical candidate.

Lindsey continues:

In case you are wondering, I honestly take no offense – …

Continue reading A word from ‘the least radical candidate’ on the ATL mayor’s race »

When local reporters where composing their final stories on campaign finances and the Atlanta mayoral race, the campaign of front-runner Mary Norwood released a summary that disclosed how much she had raised and how much she had spent – but did not identify individual donors or expenditures.

See the AJC article here.

But all of Norwood’s information is now on display on the city of Atlanta web site.

Opposing campaigns – Kasim Reed, in particular – are focusing this morning on an Oct. 9 payment to former state Rep. “Able” Mable Thomas for “consulting services.” The grassroots activist endorsed Norwood on Oct. 23.

But it’s also worth looking at some of Norwood’s contributors:

– The Atlanta Taxicab Industry Association: $2,000;

– Renee Glover, head of the Atlanta Housing Authority: $300;

– Individuals associated with Stephens Rock & Dirt of Oakwood, Ga.; $4,000;

– The Rev. Jasper Williams of Salem Baptist Church, $500;

– Author and former newspaper columnist Rick Allen of Big …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Last-minute numbers in the ATL race for mayor »

This just posted by CNN:

In an exclusive interview, Mayor Shirley Franklin told CNN’s Don Lemon that she plans to vote for former Georgia state lawmaker Kasim Reed in Tuesday’s election.

“Is that an official endorsement?” asked Lemon.

“That’s just telling you the truth,” Franklin responded. “I’m going to vote for him. I think he has the best set of skills. He has really been there to do some tough things over the state. He has Republican and Democratic support. . . . even though there are other candidates who have obviously some strengths, I think, through it all, he has the best chance of working in the region and the state.”

Franklin singled out Reed’s work in helping Atlanta deal with its water shortage issues, adding that “there are reasons to support each of the candidates” – but added that she has previously said she does not think Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood has the skills to be Atlanta’s chief executive.

Reed acted as Franklin’s campaign manager during her …

Continue reading Shirley Franklin says she’ll vote for Kasim Reed in ATL race for mayor »

The state Republican party says it had no hand in a robocall that went to GOP voters over the weekend, chastising Atlanta mayoral candidate Mary Norwood – not for her alleged Republican proclivities, but for her denial of them.

It was clearly an attempt to envelope Norwood in a kind of pincer movement. State Democrats last week accused her of closet Republicanism.

“Attention, Republican voters. This is a Republican action alert. Mayoral candidate Mary Norwood has viciously attacked Republicans, and reaffirmed her support for Barack Obama,” the automated phone call said.

It was a poorly targeted attack. The calls went to Republicans throughout much of north Georgia, we’re hearing – apparently generating enough of a buzz to prompt this statement from state GOP chairman Sue Everhart:

Continue reading State GOP denies funding anti-Norwood robocall »

A final word on tonight’s AJC/WSB debate of the Atlanta mayoral candidates:

The closing statements were the usual fare – no news, but one of the weirdest transpositions, between fervent Democrat Kasim Reed and alleged Republican Mary Norwood.

Norwood, despite that flyer declaring she hobnobs with Limbaugh, Bush and Palin, pilfered the speechifying of Barack Obama:

“I represent change and hope and a new direction for this city,” she declared.

While Reed was actually Reaganesque. “What I will be is a mayor that stands and delivers for you,” he said. “I still believe that Atlanta is a city on a hill….”

This is why you’ve gotta love politics.

Editor’s note: Given the impending Atlanta mayoral election, instant commenting has been closed on the Political Insider blog. Readers are invited to submit comments on all posts, which will be published as soon as possible after review.

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Continue reading Closing arguments: Mary Norwood pilfers from Obama, but Kasim Reed is Reaganesque »