10:31 p.m. – BREAKING: City Councilmember Andre Dickens won a runoff election Tuesday to become Atlanta’s next mayor, riding a surge of support that powered him past current City Council President Felicia Moore.
9:58 p.m. – Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is speaking at Andre Dickens’ watch party.
Update: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is speaking at the Andre Dickens Election Night Party. We got some ‘Black Boy Joy’ going on in Atlanta. It is “looking good”. #gapol#atlpolpic.twitter.com/ORCpa5sxsK
9:15 p.m. – WABE’s Rahul Bali reports from Andre Dickens’ watch party.
Update: The Andre Dickens Election Night Party is rolling as Dickens takes an early lead in the Atlanta Mayoral Runoff. #gapol#atlpolpic.twitter.com/BGBZh1jEXa
9:01 p.m. – Fulton County says Tuesday’s elections ran smoothly with no major technical issues at the polls.
Chairman Robb Pitts says he’s satisfied with the county’s performance, but expressed disappointment with the turnout for an election involving a runoff for Atlanta mayor.
“Well, I mean obviously the interest wasn’t there. There’s a lot of talk about it, but you’ve gotta go out and vote. As everybody says, ‘If you don’t vote, you can’t complain,’” said Pitts. “We tried to educate the public, we spent a lot of money on promoting the fact that there was a general election and there was a runoff. And I’m not sure what it’s going to take to work.”
Fulton County officials say before Tuesday, just over 36,000 people voted early and about 1,100 hundred by mail.
They say results for Atlanta races could be in by 11 p.m.
Meanwhile, Fulton says the state review panel overseeing its elections department has had a lighter presence for Tuesday’s runoff election compared to Nov. 2.
Republican state lawmakers have threatened to take over the county’s elections department using the state’s new voting law.
But Fulton elections director Rick Barron says the review has gone well.
“We’ve had nothing but positive interactions with them so far. So I think the process is … they chose three good people and they’re interested in being objective,” said Barron.
Barron says much of the talk about a state takeover of Fulton’s elections department has been driven by a political agenda.
Tuesday’s runoff election will be the last overseen by Barron, who is resigning at the end of the year.
7 p.m. – The polls have closed in Stonecrest and Tucker. Polls will be open until 8 p.m. for races in the City of Atlanta and several other cities in the metro area.
4:09 p.m. – WABE’s Rahul Bali caught up with Felicia Moore earlier at the polls in Buckhead where she said she expects a victory despite a possible drop in voter turnout for the runoff. Felicia Moore
3:23 p.m. – WABE’s Rahul Bali reports on an Election Day voting issue in Northwest Atlanta.
Election Day Voting Issue
Atlanta Public Schools are not closed today for the runoff like they were for Election Day.
9:13 a.m. – In addition to the Atlanta mayor’s runoff, voters will also be choosing a new city council president today.
Current Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore is in a runoff to be the city’s next mayor. But no one running to replace her got enough votes to avoid a runoff either.
The two candidates are Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong and Doug Shipman, the former CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center and the Center for Civil and Human Rights.
The city council president doesn’t usually vote on legislation, but they do run council meetings and make committee assignments.
9:10 a.m. – Atlantans will elect a new mayor today in a runoff that pits two city council members against each other. Crime and affordable housing are major issues in the race.
Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore finished first in the Nov. 2 election but didn’t get a majority. She’s facing Councilman Andre Dickens, an Atlanta native who did get the endorsement of the current mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
To combat an increase in violent crime, both candidates said they would hire more police and boost training. They also vowed to build more affordable housing on city-owned land.
Both candidates are Democrats, but the mayoral election in Atlanta is non-partisan. The voter turnout for the first round was about 30% and is expected to be even lower for the runoff.
