Atlanta Mayoral Candidates In Dead Heat Days Before Runoff

From the Wall Street Journal:

As Atlanta’s mayoral race entered its final weekend before a Dec. 1 runoff election, an African-American former state senator and a feisty city councilwoman who could become the city’s first white mayor in nearly 40 years appeared to be running neck and neck.

In the weeks since the Nov. 3 general election in which Councilwoman Mary Norwood finished well ahead of two main African-American challengers, black city leaders have consolidated support around Sen. Kasim Reed, who has surged to a statistical dead heat.

The contest is widely expected to be decided by one of the tightest margins since Atlanta’s black majority gained political clout in the 1970s. A WSB-TV Channel 2/Insider Advantage sampling on Nov. 20 had the two candidates tied at 46% for the runoff, with 8% undecided. Ms. Norwood won 46% of the vote in the general election, while Mr. Reed came in second with 36%; the runoff is required because no candidate received 50%-plus needed to win outright.

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