ATLANTA — Andre Dickens, the Atlanta native who first beat an incumbent eight years ago for a spot on the City Council, defeated Felicia Moore in Tuesday’s runoff election to become Atlanta’s 61st mayor.
With most of the precincts reporting, Dickens held a strong lead over Moore, the current council president, throughout much of the city. The Associated Press called the race for Dickens at 10:30 p.m.
Dickens will succeed Keisha Lance Bottoms, who did not run for a second term and endorsed Dickens to replace her as mayor, a job Dickens said he has wanted since he was a teenager.
Running a campaign focused on public safety and restoring the “soul of Atlanta,” Dickens overcame early low name recognition and polling numbers to secure a runoff spot with just 600 more votes than former Mayor Kasim Reed.
Moore was considered the front-runner going into the runoff after getting 41% of the vote in the general election, but Dickens quickly gained momentum, fresh big-name endorsements and a fundraising advantage.
While Moore performed well in Buckhead, Dickens dominated in southwest Atlanta and made up ground on the Eastside, beating Moore in precincts she won three weeks ago.
Throughout the condensed runoff period, Dickens pitched himself as a progressive leader with bold plans to move the city forward by utilizing technology and instituting new city departments. A Mays High and Georgia Tech graduate, Dickens, 47, is also the chief development officer for TechBridge, a nonprofit that offers technology and workforce training to organizations.
At Dickens’ watch party at the Gathering Spot, dozens gathered in a room of shimmering blue streamers and red balloons. Lively R&B music was playing overhead and TV was playing on a screen taking up more than a third of a wall.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms spoke at Dickens’ crowded party as they waited for the final results.
Recalling her own election night and referring to herself as “Black Girl Magic,” the mayor said, “we’ve got some Black Boy Joy” in the city, referring to Dickens.
“The momentum seems to be continuing but we know there are results that are still coming in,” Bottoms said at about 10 p.m. She told the crowd of more than 300 that when the final results are in, Dickens will be talking from a stage set up outside The Gathering Spot venue.
At Moore’s campaign event at the W Atlanta hotel downtown, poles were decorated with blue, white and orange balloons surrounding the stage and light music played as over 100 people mingled with drinks and small plates.
Moore reached her party downtown at the W shortly after 9:30 as around 200 people gathered to support her. As she walked in, stopping occasionally to give hugs and take photos, her supporters chanted “We want Moore.”
Fulton County elections director Richard Barron said during a brief Tuesday evening meeting of the county elections board that the county had a “smooth” day free of major issues. He said they hope to have complete results by 11 p.m., while DeKalb officials said they hope to be done by 10 p.m.
Fulton Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said turnout was “just horrible, horrible, for an election as important as this.”
Each candidate visited around a dozen polling locations throughout the day Tuesday, hoping to encourage residents to get to the polls for an election in which voter turnout was predicted to be low.
“I’ve taken probably 400 selfies today, so I’m feeling good going into tonight,” Dickens said around 6 p.m. outside the Joan P. Garner Library at Ponce De Leon.
Voters who hit the polls Tuesday said crime and affordable housing were top issues for them; a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll found those were the top two most pressing issues for residents.
Georgia Tech educator Cedric Stallworth, 54, had the opportunity Tuesday to do something few teachers have: vote for his former computer science student, Andre Dickens, as the next mayor.
“He’s going to come at it from an engineering standpoint, which is a little bit of a fresh breath of air,” said Stallworth, who voted in the Old Fourth Ward. “I know how Andre thinks, I know how he approaches problems, I’ve known him since he was 18 years old, so I’m very proud to live in a society where I’m actually voting for one of my former students for mayor.”
Lucy Sharpe, 69, said she has lived in Atlanta her entire life and said this is the worst she has seen crime.
“I want experience leading this city. I want someone who has sound financial principles and someone who has climbed the ladder, so to speak,” Sharpe said. “I am ready for a true leader.”
Also on the runoff ballot: The election for City Council president, between veteran Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong and former Woodruff Arts Center CEO Doug Shipman.
Six Atlanta City Council seats were also decided in runoff elections Tuesday, including two posts held by longtime incumbents facing progressive challengers.
———
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff writers Anjali Huynh, Tyler Wilkins, Adrianne Murchison, Tyler Estep and Alia Malik contributed to this article.)
———
