AJC: Norwood did well in predominantly black neighborhoods
November 4, 2009 at 12:43 pm by Andisheh Nouraee in NewsBefore we get sucked into a “Buckhead vs. Southwest Atlanta” narrative for the run-off, consider this: the spreadsheet users over at the AJC say Mary Norwood won a significant number of votes yesterday from predominantly black precincts.
Political Insider Jim Galloway posted results from Atlanta’s top five predominantly black districts, and the top five predominantly white districts. Norwood received an average of 21 percent of the votes in the top five mostly black districts, while Reed received an average of just under six percent of the vote in the top five mostly white districts.
Norwood clearly has stronger appeal outside her geographic base than Reed does outside his.
She’s the cross-over candidate.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Too bad she dogged the republican party during Monday Night Football and the World Series. Any black vote she has garnered was most likely offset by the republicans she offended.
She’s the not too bright candidate.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
This post has got to be a joke?
November 4th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Watch Atlanta’s bond rating move below junk if Mary wins.
She is a lovely person, concerned about the neighborhoods, loves meet and greets, has the people touch. Sadly, none of that pays the rent.
In office she will not get to grips with the budget. She won’t force pension expenses way down – instead frittering away precious time on a futile hunt for perfection in the accounts.
Council will have no confidence in her – Jesse Spikes was spot on with that attack line last Sunday – so will buck any lead she eventually gives on the budget. It will be furloughs, tax increases, chaos and embarrassment if Mary wins.
Kasim has put pension reduction front and center from the start of the campaign. He understands what matters in running the city and he is tough and effective enough to deal with it. He’s also young enough to need a clear record of success in Atlanta for his later career, an incentive that aligns him with the rest of us.
He’s nowhere near a 100% perfect candidate – his Shirley connections, his shilling for the Beltline and the Supt Hall’s APS failure factory are all negatives. But for what Atlanta needs now, budget housecleaning and undoing council’s pension idiocy, he’s the right guy.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Where’s the joke, J? Mary did better in 5 big predominantly black precincts than Kasim did in 5 big predominantly white districts. It’s a statement based on published election results. Do you dispute that? Are published results I linked to incorrect?
November 4th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
@turner: Wrong. Mary didn’t offend repubs. She had to address the attacks. The MOST she ever polled at was 45 and 46%….and on election night she got…wait for it…46%.
She addressed the attacks and therefore held on to a significant percent of black and Dem votes while keeping Republican votes.
Absolutely perfectly played by Norwood. Now, Kasim has showed his hand in terms of his negative attacks and he has no new ammunition to use in the run off. If Norwood decides to go negative, Reed will be forced to spend money to defend himself
November 4th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
@Samiam, It’s possible that she would have gone over the 50% mark with higher turnout from Republicans, given how low the citywide turnout was.
However, I agree her campaign has generally worked well, correctly reading how uninformed and disengaged voters (taxpayers) are. Mary’s supporters – not all white – largely assume that somehow because she is not Franklin / Campbell / Young she has the competence to turn the city’s finances around. How wrong can they be?!
November 4th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Who’s more offensive to Republican voters, the man (Reed) who uses the label as a damning accusation, or the woman forced to respond to the accusation.
Norwood’s answers were artless and may have cost her votes, but yesterday’s results make it clear she has a larger margin of error than Reed.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
She won’t force pension expenses way down – instead frittering away precious time on a futile hunt for perfection in the accounts.
In other words, she’s the southern belle version of Jill Chambers: nickel & diming the institution, even while sucking up to the unions.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
ABC’s Nightline had a segment about the Atlanta Mayoral election last night. In one of the segments, a young white woman was interviewed regarding her decision to support Mary Norwood. Her response was “Atlanta won’t be known as the ATL anymore..it won’t be known as a place where rappers are. It will be a clean and safe city that white people can relate to.” I was appalled. Is this the new face of gentrification?
November 4th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
I’m not going to answer your question. Do some research insted of just re-posting the AJC’s errors.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
@Greg The face of gentrification, yes. And also the voice of someone too lazy to understand the city’s challenges. She won’t get “a clean and safe city” by a knee-jerk vote for Mary. And to be fair to Mary, Mary deserves far, far better than that vapid, racist endorsement.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Mary would have done herself a better service if she had not responded to the Republican comment at all.
She looked like a Johnny Come lately.
Norwood hasn’t had one solid concrete solution to combat the City’s finances as a council member so why would anybody expect that to change as Mayor.
If she doesn’t understand the City’s finances how are we to compete with the General Assembly.
Maybe by putting the guy who has been up there for the last 12 years. Norwood doesn’t bring anything new to the table and as already stated she doesn’t have the respect of the Council.
Her numbers stalled going into the election while Kasim was posting double digit gains.
Norwood won’t have anything new to say while Kasim hand picks any of a thousand issues that could be dealt with. She needed to win the first one to win this one. Valiant effort but not enough.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Maybe it’s just me, but alot of the anti-Norwood comments here sound more like wishful thinking than valid reasons for why she may lose. She may not be a good candidate, but she has a lot of support (right or wrong) because most citizens think the city has been run into the toilet and they’re hesitant to keep going on the same track (the Reed candidacy).
November 4th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Well I wish I could comment on her policies or Financial plans for the City Atlpaddy but so far she hasn’t submitted any.
If the Runoff were today I honestly think she would win but the voters are now going to have a chance to compare Reed to Norwood and in my opinion there is no comparison. I agree with the Loafs analysis of what we need, the Sunday Paper’s analysis of what we need.
Mary talks a lot, means well, but doesn’t have a strong stance on anything. She reminds me more of Shirley than Reed. Kasim has talked more about our financial situation in the last 9 months than Shirley and Mary combined over the last 8 years.
Lisa would have been more of the same as well. We have a shakeup going on in the City Council and this City needs the same on in the Executive office.
Dave Walker put it best, “Throw the bums out.” I mean that in the nicest way possible. Shirley and Lisa and Mary should be thanked for their years of service but we need a politician in the executive office not a nice lady.