Fresh Loaf

Add one Jesse Spikes to the long list of folks planning to run for Atlanta mayor next year.

No, we weren’t familiar with Mr. Spikes, either, so we gave him a call. Spikes, 57, is a former Rhodes Scholar and a senior partner with McKenna Long & Aldridge, one of the city’s largest law firms. Although he served for a time as Evander Holyfield’s business attorney, he is not a well-known figure in Atlanta – but he does have an interesting back story.

Born on a farm in Henry County, the youngest of 13 children, to parents who never went to high school, Spikes’ future seemed understandably limited. But he was sent to school in New England by A Better Chance, a private educational foundation. Spikes went on to attend Dartmouth College, Harvard Law School and, courtesy of a Rhodes Scholarship, Oxford University.

Spikes, who specializes in business law, says he’d always expected to go to work in the public sector to give back to society, but hadn’t found the right opportunity. He now believes he’s found that chance.

“I think I’m the manager the city needs,” he says. “I’m someone who intends to focus on the nuts and bolts, day-in-day-out job of running the city.”

As someone who’s never run for public office, Spikes has his work cut out for him. So far, the field of mayoral candidates looks to include a number of seasoned political veterans: Council President Lisa Borders; State Sen. Kasim Reed; Council members Caesar Mitchell and Mary Norwood; and Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts.

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Buckhead City Councilwoman Mary Norwood – she of the first-lady-style suits and helmet hair – today kicked off her long-expected run for Atlanta mayor with an apparent makeover. Judge for yourself:


Before                After

OK, so her new look isn’t the big news here, but it will certainly be noted by anyone who’s grown accustomed over the years to Norwood’s dependable Talbots-and-Aqua Net aesthetic.

Anyway, the energetic councilwoman announced the rollout of a 120-member “exploratory committee” to survey the prospects of a Norwood mayoral campaign. Since she’s spent the past year holding town-hall meetings in virtually every neighborhood in town, we assume the committee is a formality and she’s already made up her mind to run in next year’s race.

Her likely opponents include Council President Lisa Borders, Councilman Ceasar Mitchell and state Sen. Kasim Reed. Possibles include Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts and talk-radio host Clark Howard.

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