Dash for cash: The inside story of Kyle Keyser’s 48-hour scramble to get on the Atlanta mayoral ballot
September 17, 2009 at 3:18 pm by Patrick Saunders in News
Kyle Keyser, in front of City Hall
Kyle Keyser’s surprising announcement that he was running for mayor of Atlanta invigorated an already dramatic campaign race — but it came with a catch. In order to officially enter the race, Keyser had to raise the $4,425 filing fee to get on the ballot.
And he had to do it in 48 hours.
The following is an account of the emotional days leading up to the announcement and the critical hours that followed in which the unlikely upstart candidate used Facebook, Twitter, Freedom Rock and an iPhone app to rally a community and help him get in the game.
Friday, Aug. 28
6:30 p.m: Keyser speaks at a rally at Bessie Branham Park in Kirkwood, held in response to the shooting of a 55-year-old man who was mowing his lawn.
This is when things really started to kick in. There were probably 200 people and I got up to speak at the end, and I just looked out and saw all these eyes looking at me and I just felt this sadness in the community, like they’d been broken by this incident, and a little hurt more so than angry. I thought to myself, “This is eight months from the time I started [Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC)]. How many more rallies do there have to be? How many more people are going to be affected by this?” That’s when I started to strongly consider running.
Monday, Aug. 31
3:21 p.m.: Facebook update: “ain’t gonna do it.”
I was not going to run at this point. But I was still flirting with the idea; maybe I should do it.
6 p.m.: Keyser speaks at another Kirkwood rally, this one organized by ATAC, in front of Vinocity.
The Monday rally was what put me over. I sat on my pile of signs, cleaning up, and talked to people who attended the rally and lived in the neighborhood. I just felt compelled to do something. I examined the situation and looked at myself and was like, “What can I do to affect the most change?” It was really like a compulsion. I’m like, “I have to do something.”
Then I decided, “I’m gonna do it.”
Tuesday, Sept. 1
2:07 a.m.: Facebook update: “Inspired by [my] community again. I love you ATL!”
12 p.m.: Keyser goes to City Hall.
I went to the municipal clerk’s office and I said, “Okay, to qualify for mayor what do I have to do?” The clerk said, “Well, you can get 2,213 signatures by Friday at 4:30 p.m. or you can pay the filing fee of $4,425.” And I said, “Well, if I get the money do I need the signatures?” She said no. So I got all the paperwork and the forms and asked if I could raise the money to qualify. She said I could raise the money as long as I filled out a declaration of intent.
So I went out to my car with the forms and called some people, talked to some good friends. They said, “File the form. Put it in there. You’ve got a thousand Facebook friends, so go ask each one of them for five or ten dollars and you can make it happen.” So I went back inside and filled out the form and turned it in.
At that point I was like, “OK…this is real.”
2:30 p.m.: Keyser goes home to plan how he was going to announce his candidacy.
I decided I would put it out there in a small way. I wasn’t going to come out in some grandiose situation. I was going to put it out to the community Wednesday morning that I’m going to try to qualify, and if I can raise the money to do it, I’ll do it. So I collected my thoughts and wrote an open letter to the community and created a website. I wanted to do it right. I wanted things as prepared as possible.
Wednesday, Sept. 2
10:52 a.m.: Facebook update: “[I’m] gonna run for Mayor. Read my letter. I think it’s time to let them know the residents of Atlanta are serious about change. So I’m in. I’ll need your help …”
There had been this intense 24 hours of buildup and then you press a button and put it out there and then there’s just … silence. I was like, “Alright, it’s out there. I really want to do this, so let’s see what happens.”
12:33 p.m.: Facebook update with PayPal link attached: “Needs you to donate at least 10 … but maybe 20? :)”
1:05 p.m.: The first donation comes in, for $100.
Wednesday afternoon: Interviews with CL, the AJC, Southern Voice, Daily Kos and Project Q Atlanta.
Wednesday night: Keyser heads home and discusses strategy with campaign assistant Fiona Sites-Bowen.
End of day total: $1,643
Amount left to raise: $2,782
Hours remaining: 36
The signs were good. In my head I was like, “I gotta make this happen.”
Thursday, Sept. 3
1:47 a.m.: Facebook update: “Has Bon Jovi’s “Livin on a Prayer” preventing me from falling asleep. Telling …”
Lyrics from the chorus of “Livin’ on a Prayer”: “Oh, we’re halfway there.”
Thursday morning: Keyser emails targeted groups of contacts he’s worked with throughout the country.
11 a.m.: Interview with reporter from NPR at Outwrite bookstore.
12 p.m.: Lunch with a friend involved in politics at Nickiemoto’s.
He said, “You need to get on the phone. It’s called dialing for dollars, Kyle. If you ask people for $10 directly, they’ll give it to you. Don’t think you can just pull this off on Facebook.”
I was fairly comfortable calling and asking, but it was just a matter of time constraints for me. I looked at all the people in my phone book and thought, “How am I going to call all of them?” So I went back and modified my approach. I wrote text messages saying, “Hey, give $10,” and I gave the PayPal URL and spent a good part of the day doing that … thank God for the copy and paste feature on the iPhone.
Thursday afternoon: Keyser meets with Sites-Bowen to discuss a new idea.
I said, “What if we do a fundraiser tonight at Noni’s?” Once in a while I’ll pick up a bar shift there. I’ve got my Freedom Rock double-CD set from the ’90s, so I figured, “Let’s grab it and get people to come out.” It’ll be real America. So we came up with the idea of the Freedom Rock fundraiser.
4:39 p.m.: Keyser posts Facebook invite for Freedom Rock Fundraiser for Kyle Keyser for Mayor.
8:00 p.m.: Freedom Rock fundraiser at Noni’s.
I’m bartending and I had my iPhone by my computer screen. I would go to the computer and ring in a drink, go to the next contact on my iPhone, text message them and go back. The fundraiser had about 40 to 45 people and we raised close to $700.
End of day total: $3,473.
Amount left to raise: $952
Hours remaining: 12
Friday, Sept. 4
I woke up at 8:30 a.m. and stayed in bed and continued going down my phone list and text-messaging people.
9:26 a.m.: Facebook/Twitter update with PayPal link attached: “Less than $1000 away. Amazing. If you’re reading this PLEASE click and give $5. Just $5! If each of you did I’ll walk into City Hall at noon and QUALIFY.”
I’m like okay, we have a thousand bucks to raise in four hours. So I sat on my phone and text messaged and that’s really the thing that put me over the edge, because I laid in bed from 9 till like 11 text messaging people, so a lot of the people who had gotten the text message the night before were getting up that morning and starting to donate.
11 a.m.: Facebook/Twitter update: “[I'm] going to tell you a secret…(we’re only 25 ten dollar donations away!). Incredible.”
12:27 p.m.: Facebook/Twitter update: “Just raised enough to qualify to RUN FOR MAYOR! Headed down to City Hall at 2:30 p.m. to officially qualify. THANK YOU!”
It was very inspiring. This stuff is really all for us, and it was really empowering to say, “OK I’m filing as a candidate for mayor.”
2:30 p.m.: Keyser goes to City Hall and officially files as a candidate for mayor of Atlanta.
3:26 p.m.: Facebook update with pic attached: “Let’s get started.”
3:30 p.m.: Keyser and friends walk out onto the steps of City Hall, where they decide to make one last stop.
We were like, “Let’s go get some lunch.” And it was just sort of natural that the Standard came to mind.
The week before Christmas last year, Keyser was mugged at gunpoint. Intowners began to voice concern that violent crime in Atlanta was quickly rising. Less than a month later, Standard bartender John Henderson was killed during a robbery. The incident sparked Keyser to create Atlantans Together Against Crime.
Eight months later, Keyser was sitting just feet from where Henderson was slain.
It was the answer to that nagging feeling I had earlier in the week. On Monday I was in Kirkwood saying, “Man, I have to do SOMETHING.” On Friday I was at the Standard. I was Atlanta’s newest mayoral candidate. I sat there and I had a beer, and I was like, “We did this — we’re gonna do it.”
(Photo of Keyser by Alli Royce Soble)
Correction: An earlier version of the post incorrectly described the Aug. 28 rally as having been organized by ATAC.
September 17th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
From community organizer, to state senator, to senator, to president…who would have thunk it? Good luck Kyle.
September 17th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I have no problem with Kyle running and am impressed by his fundraising skills. But I wonder whether someone who starts a by all accounts quixotic bid for mayor should pay some of the filing fee himself. He’s not a pauper (at least not according to Fulton property records).
September 17th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
I’m sorry…this is news HOW? I don’t see any similar timeline chronologies for other mayoral candidates. How about giving Peter Brownlowe some love? No one even knows who the hell he is.
I mean, it’s an inspiring Disney movie type thing, and ATAC is a great thing, but this man is sure as hell not ATL’s next mayor.
September 17th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
This is the same guy who’s regular blog is him photographed with strippers, doing drugs, stalking celebrities and writing blogs on how to avoid paying your bills. Sure this guy thinks running our city is a joke, but I am disappointed to see that Creative Loafing evidently feels the same way with all of your spotlight articles on him.
September 17th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
kyle,
i don’t know about your credentials for being mayor…but i sure like your name!!!
Good Luck!
September 17th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Dina C: I just read a story about this guy on Channel 2. His blog is utterly disgraceful. And he’s trying to run for Mayor of Atlanta? The city would be in absolute BEDLAM under his watch.
September 17th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Dina, Thanks for commenting. As the CL staffer who wrote this week’s feature about Keyser’s mayoral campaign, I wanted to chime in.
We understand how serious this election is for Atlanta. And our coverage of Keyser isn’t an endorsement of him or his campaign. (We will be making endorsements, however.) My article this week focuses on the fact that he’s an unconventional candidate who, oddly enough, could potentially have an impact on the race. He entered the contest with an impressive base of support and name recognition among young Atlantans — kind of a rarity among this slate of candidates. And based on how Keyser’s helped increase public awareness about crime — probably the issue that resonates the most with voters — we couldn’t ignore what his candidacy could mean for the race.
Now, the odds are against Keyser when it comes to actually winning the election. He’s starting late in the game and doesn’t have nearly the same amount of experience, cash or clout. He could, however, attract voters who aren’t impressed with the frontrunners or influence other candidates to step up their games. Or he might not. No one knows for sure. We thought it’d be interesting to examine that.
September 18th, 2009 at 10:14 am
oh my god, a real person with a real life is running for mayor! watch out everybody…scary!
he’s not hiding all this secret shit and he’s not lying to you. he’s just trying to make a difference while you are on here posting a comment about him. get out and do something or sit the fuck down.
September 18th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Hi Thomas Wheatley.
The media attention around Kyle Keyser has been very exclusionary and selective. Any average citizen is able to find his Facebook page in which he advertises house parties to pay the mortgage on his Inman Park home, since he openly admits he has not held a real job in years. Why is Channel 2 news the only channel exploring this sudden candidate for mayor the way it should be investigated?
To James:
Kyle Keyser’s “non-profit organization” currently holds no known license of its 501C status. He is also according to the website the only employee of this “organization.” ATAC With less than a year of service to the community seems more like a veil to broadcast himself than an actual grassroots campaign to prevent crime in Atlanta.
September 18th, 2009 at 11:47 am
@DinaC, whether you’re shilling for Lisa or Mary, you’ve picked a weak argument. Both candidates have attended multiple Kyle-ATAC rallies this year so they could look as if they were taking resident crime concerns seriously. They apparently did not share your skepticism about the depth of the grassroots into which ATAC tapped.
If Kyle can get an extra few thousand voters to the polls, like he did to the petition, the murder-reward fundraising evening, etc., he makes a runoff even more certain – nobody gets 50% +1. If he then swings them behind his preferred candidate, he could even swing the race.
Judging from Kasim’s unequivocal stand at last night’s forum on the Eagle raid – the Citizen Review Board will have subpoena power when I’m mayor, etc., etc. – if Kyle is principled, he’ll back Kasim.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
doesn’t it take awhile to complete the 501C application and for the IRS to process and approve 501C, non-profit status?
Considering ATAC just formed earlier this year, it could be that the IRS hasn’t processed the application. Or maybe ATAC is still compiling the paperwork. I think there are provisions that allow for non-profit organizations to raise money and get started even before they have official status.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
To Borders:
The reason his organization never received 501C status I suspect is because he in fact planned to launch himself as a political candidate, making it illegal for him to file for it. To call this sort of political strategy grassroots or community focused is a gross abuse of those terms. There is a dramatic difference in being a service worker and a politician.
Speaking of the Eagle gay bar incident. ATAC’s only claim of success is having lobbied to lift the furloughs on APD officers. Subsequently he spoke at an anti-police abuse rally certainly delivers a very mixed message to a non gay citizen. His definition of crime certainly seems to be racially motivated by his choice in neighborhood rallies. Where as he calls on the city to put more police on the streets, he criticizes their operations when white mid-towners are attacked.
Terrible that a woman asking questions about a Mayor candidate is clearly met with unwarranted hostility by his voter base.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
At Dina C:
You are speaking my mind. As someone who knew Kyle before his bid for mayor, there is definitely a growing number of people around him that are asking these same questions. He had a video on his myspace page that was of him doing poppers with friends and talking to the camera. Surprise! Its since disappeared with his Mayor announcement. There is something very fishy about all of this stuff.
However in his defense, I was present at the Eagle rally, and there was quite a few of political candidates speaking there. He was actually very selective in his words and surprisingly un-opinionated about the whole thing. If anything, I hope he and ATAC realize that police brutality is an issue, white, black, gay or straight, and it deserves careful attention from all our Mayoral candidates.
September 18th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
@Dina C.
Hard to tell if you are asking questions or just putting out falsehoods. He’s held rallies in Mechanicsville, the West End, Kirkwood, Benteen and other areas that I wouldn’t classify as “white midtown”, and I wouldn’t equate his passion for the cause of public safety with thinking that running the city is a joke.
Terrible that a man trying to move public safety and transparency to the top of the debate be met with unwarranted hostility because you don’t like the pictures on his blog.
If you are looking for a politician with an uncheckered past who wants to become the next mayor because it will look good on their resume and is the next obvious step on their career ladder, there are several options for you, and one of them will certainly win anyway. Then we can all rest easy that our mayor will only have their photograph taken with the non-stripping public, crisis averted.
September 18th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
lol @ dina c – clueless.
September 18th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
At least those who want to become Mayor as a step on their career ladder have a vested interest to do a good job. Why should the city trust a jobless hipster to be in charge? It’s terrific that Keyser has major concerns about the crime situation in Atlanta. I think we can all agree on that. But there is a lot more to running a city than rallying with your friends on street corners every few weeks. A bid for the city’s most important position based on one hot topic? It’s half-assed at best and disastrous at worst.
September 18th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
To Brian & Wesley:
If someone could please sum up some photos of Kasim Reed, Lisa Borders or Mary Norwood hanging with strippers and evidently huffing drugs, I’d be all eyes and ears.
What defines any of my questioning as clueless? What expertise does Kyle Keyser actually bring to the position of Mayor?
September 18th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Dear Dina… So what? I’m no Keyser fan, but from where I sit he has done more to bring the community together around this issue than any candidate in the race. Maybe we don’t like the package he comes in and maybe he’d make a crappy mayor. But he has every right to run. Maybe his candidacy will make the other candidates get real about crime. By the way, my guess is he’ll never support Reed. The good senator has never given Keyser the time of day.
September 18th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I wish every candidate raised their money that way. Instead, we’re stuck with a bunch of people who are literally owned by developers and other special interests. I don’t think Kyle wants to or thinks he can win. I think he’s trying to change the dayum conversation. I’m with that.
September 18th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I have to make this my last post.
What does a white man, who owns a home in one of Atlanta’s most affluent neighborhoods understand about crime? He was mugged, and then lead a crowd of angry modern day lynch-mobbers to the media and said “end the furloughs.”
Certainly he’s changed the conversation as much as he has changed his mind about his own personal quest in Atlanta.
Kasim Reed is smart to have nothing to do with this guy. Anyone paying attention to Atlanta before the media storm surrounding Keyser, knows he is not a good choice for Mayor.
Watching the rallies pour into the streets of Atlanta, demanding crime prevention, but failing to define crime or its causes has been disheartening for all of us who work in public service. Kyle Keyser represents this kind of ideological, naive and ill-informed politics.
September 18th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
i am former resident of colquitt avenue in atlanta, where keyser lives. keyser was a regular problem in the neighborhood for everyone living there. he had giant parties often, and had the police called on him constantly. so this jack ass went and hired a bunch of off duty cops to watch the gate of his party so when we called to report him they wouldnt shut the party down.
can one person supply an endorsement from a credible organization in atlanta about what role this dickwad has played in helping atlanta? didnt think so. hes a total joke and the only people here defending him are the same people who are taking up all the damn parking on colquitt at his massive house parties. keyser is a class A asshole. forget it!
September 18th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Wow. I really get that the guy isn’t perfect, and he’s not going to win the election. I still don’t understand why bringing public safety to the forefront is a bad thing? Why is that threatening? Why all the anger towards neighbors demonstrating after their neighbor gets shot (lynchmobs???? seriously????), but none towards criminals (whom we just need to understand more).
I would love to give public servants like Dina even more of my tax money to define crime and keep know-nothing Chalky the hell out it, but first I need to feel safe in my home and neighborhood. These candidates have been and will continue to be focused on that issue, and that is in part due to Kyle and his work.
VOTE NO TO STRIPPERS AND HOUSE PARTIES ON ‘09.
September 18th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Brian:
He didnt bring public safety to the forefront. Even the article said that crime is one of the most important things on peoples mind going into this election. If it is already important in peoples minds, it is already at the forefront, regardless of what this kid did.
Its not like crime was a non-issue until Keyser made it an issue. It has always been one of the biggest issues of this election year. It was one of the biggest issues before this kid got involved. It would have been one of the biggest issues if this kid had never gotten involved.
So tell me again what this kid changed? Nothing.
September 18th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
@ Brian
Keyser has done the same thing every other politician has done about crime. Prosecute the drug sellers, never the buyers, ignore the core issues that propagate crime and try and put more cops on the street. Same old show, different person doing it.
Kudos to people who are trying to establish long term solutions to crime prevention. Keyser, not one of them.
September 18th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Thanks Dina C. for being a voice of reason and calling it like it is. Kyle Keyser is opportunistic and naive, riding the predominantly-white, predominantly new-resident crime hysteria wave without any vision of his own, and having the hubris to assert that he is speaking for the people of Atlanta. Anyone ever hear of someone being pro-crime? So why is being “anti-crime” suddenly a political platform? Sounds more like mob mentality to me.
September 18th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Being anti-crime is a political platform because (a) not enough has been done to address it, and (b) it’s something we all should be able to agree on. You go tell the young lady from Spelman’s parents that this is all just a crime “hysteria” wave.
@Jeremy: point taken, I misspoke. You’re right that it was already the at the forefront as an issue. I think that Kyle realizes that it’s an issue that we can rally around as a city (Atlantans Together) and together put pressure on our leaders to more competently address the issue. His candidacy is an extension of that. Of course no one is pro-crime. We all agree, so let’s do something about it!
@another echo, to your point, I have a feeling that Kyle is all for long-term solutions. I know I am. Long-term solutions tend to have long-term results, though, and I think that having an adequate police force can help in the short-term. An adequate 911 system and an adequate judicial system would be great also.
I personally think that for most of the teenagers committing a lot of the crime in the city right now, the reform/long-term solution-ship has already sailed. Mommy failed and now as a city we are left to deal with a 17-year old who has no issue stealing a TV or shooting someone in their front yard. What long-term solution enacted today keeps that from happening tomorrow? It’s obviously a battle that has to be fought on different fronts.
It would be one thing if Kyle held a lead in the polls. Hell, I would be alarmed with that. I just don’t understand what harm comes from his being a part of this race right now. Some of the comments seem to indicate a real anger and dislike and I don’t understand where that comes from (outside of the parking on Colquitt thing). What harm comes from his candidacy? From my standpoint, the front runners in this campaign are very uninspiring, at a time when Atlanta really needs a leader who will do things differently and get results. In the absence of that, a candidate who at best may be able to rally people together to say, “don’t screw around with our safety, we are watching” seems like a good thing.
The ‘96 Olympics are over and the housing bubble has burst. As citizens, we can have a say and an impact on what Atlanta becomes and transitions into now, and I applaud anyone who seeks to push the idea that Atlanta-politics-as-usual is not going to cut it anymore.
September 18th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Kyle may get 2%-5% on election day. However, I doubt his endorsement will count for much in a runoff. I don’t think he will influence people to come back out for a runoff, much less influence who they vote for.
I’m glad he got in the race though, because he may have just guaranteed a runoff. His 2%-5% may be the difference between Norwood winning without a runoff.
September 19th, 2009 at 12:08 am
“What does a white man, who owns a home in one of Atlanta’s most affluent neighborhoods understand about crime? He was mugged, and then lead a crowd of angry modern day lynch-mobbers to the media and said ‘end the furloughs.’”
Screw Dina C, her victim mentality, racism, and the horse they rode in on. Talk about not being “constructive.”
September 19th, 2009 at 8:39 am
That Freedom Rock CD compilation CD really rocks. I couldn’t stop Twittering about how great it felt to hear “One Tin Soldier” after like a zillion years. Could have sworn I was back in some dude’s ‘77 Camaro drinking Malt Ducks and rolling doobies out in the woods somewhere far far away. That was real nice.
Kyle and his Freedom Rock CD for Mayor. Yeah!
September 19th, 2009 at 9:50 am
@Just Saying: I wouldn’t say that every other candidate is owned by developers and corporate donors. Mary Norwood, who presumably had my business card from a previous city function where I met her, called me at my office and asked me point-blank for a lot more money than he’s asked any individual for. As Keyser’s political friend said, it’s called “dialing for dollars” and at some point everyone does it. Who you call and how much you ask for depends on who you know and the scale of your ambitions.
I also wouldn’t call this CL coverage anything of an endorsement. It’s the alternative paper; that’s its job (even if it does routinely feature more insightful journalistic thought than this city’s mainstream paper). What kind of disturbs me are the people who really do get behind campaigns like this. To me, campaigns based on rallies and protests are among the bluntest political tools, a recipe for a political underclass that will never be taken seriously on any attempts at collective bargaining. That certainly applies to internal city concerns such as police reform and, but people also need to realize Atlanta’s complex place in the context of the state. It is the economic linchpin of Georgia yet almost systematically hobbled at almost every state-level decision-making process, and increasingly to its detriment. Strong leaders with clout and savvy are its only chance to survive: how much more would a rally-and-placard kind of mayor, especially one with a flagrantly unorthodox personal life, marginalize this city?
September 20th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
The fact that crime is now a real topic is in part his doing and I can’t knock him for running to bring attention to the issue…
He isn’t Mother Theresa but who is.
Hipster, I think not Politik.
September 20th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
“economic linchpin of Georgia yet almost systematically hobbled at almost every state-level decision-making process” – I Agree… well said…
People that hate a good party need to ask themselves if they really want a free country. I think not!
October 7th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Is Kyle Gay? Yep (some say 10% of the population is)
Has he done things he isn’t proud of? Yep (I would bet everyone of us have too)
Are there people who don’t like him personally? Yep (I would bet close to 100% of us have a hater or two out there as well)
Has he pissed off his neighbors? Yep (I’ll give everyone the benefit of the doubt and say probably half of us have done that at least once)
I would go so far as to say that I bet ALL of the candidate running (frontrunners and little-knowns would have to admit to those last three at some point in their lives)
Will he win? Probably Not.
Does he change the political landscape? Yep (whether you like it or not)
But if you don’t like him, what he is or what he stands for – just don’t vote for him. But this venomous hatred isn’t healthy for anyone.
Priorities people. You would appreciate the same respect if you had the cajones to run for an office.
And remember – those who anger you defeat you.
October 7th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
At least he doesn’t have very close ties to the biggest drug ring ever busted in Atlanta.