From what we can tell, the District 6 Council race is fairly tight, but Alex Wan has managed to pick up the endorsements of two former opponents.
In recent days, Wan has landed testimonials from both Tad Christian, who came in a close third behind Liz Coyle in the Nov. 3 general election, and Steve Brodie, who also ran for the post in 2005.
On Tuesday, Nov. 24, CL will unveil its own endorsement in the race.
Liz Coyle
Last night, longtime community activist Liz Coyle was edged out of a Dec. 1 runoff against Alex Wan by darkhorse candidate Tad Christian in the Atlanta City Council District 6 race.
Or so we thought.
CL just spoke with Coyle. And the Atkins Park resident says she’s ready for a runoff.
“Huh?” we asked.
Coyle said the election results reported for the six-candidate race didn’t include three DeKalb County precincts that are considered part of the City of Atlanta. When you add those results, Coyle says, she leads Christian by 65 votes.
“So I’m ready for a runoff,” she said. Work begins today on her Dec. 1 showdown with Wan.
We’ve reached out to the Christian campaign. We’ll update when we hear word.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Seems the Atlanta mayor’s race isn’t the only political contest with mysterious operatives trying to brand a candidate as a “closeted Republican.”
A li’l birdie landed on our windowsill earlier today and informed us that District 6 voters have received similar calls about Tad Christian, one of the six candidates running to represent the Midtown, Morningside and Candler Park neighborhoods. (Incumbent Anne Fauver isn’t seeking re-election.)
Vote early, vote often!
As you may have noticed, we at CL offered our City Hall endorsements this week — but only for four races: mayor, Council prez and two of the three at-large seats. Frankly, the reasons for being so selective were more practical than anything else. I mean, have you seen how many people are running for some of these seats? It wasn’t feasible to bring in 20 or 30 candidates for individual interviews. As it was, we ended up meeting face-to-face with a dozen candidates.
Does this mean we’re blowing off the rest of the Council races? We’re glad you asked, because the answer is no! In each of the contested district races, we asked the candidates to answer a questionnaire that we’d then post online to help educate voters. (Links to candidate responses are below the jump.)
You may recall that the Metro Atlanta Chamber (dba Committee for a Better Atlanta) does the same thing; we’d encourage you to read both sets of questionnaires — and visit the candidates’ websites, and watch forums, and attend meet-and-greets, etc. — in order to get a more complete idea of the choices facing you in the Nov. 3 election.
Last night, candidates aiming to replace outgoing Atlanta City Councilwoman Anne Fauver in District 6 gathered at Inman Middle School to win residents’ hearts and minds.
We’re sure it was a crowded house — District 6 includes such politically active neighborhoods as Virginia-Highland, Morningside, Candler Park and Midtown, among other hamlets. And since there isn’t a clear-cut frontrunner among the six candidates vying for the open seat, voters probably wanted to hear some opinions on the issues.
We couldn’t attend the gathering, mainly because we were in Athens talking to whippersnappers about the future of journalism. (Keep your heads up, yo!)
If you were there, we’d love to hear your take. And if you don’t write anything, it means you hate America. Consider this an open thread.
Steve Brodie, one of six contenders in the crowded race for the Atlanta City Council District 6 open seat, has received the endorsement of the city’s 1,100-member police union.
In a statement (PDF) released yesterday by Brodie’s campaign, Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623, said the wooer of water ballerinas is unique because he’s “providing specific ideas for improving public safety in Atlanta and the action steps needed to fund improvements….The other District 6 Candidates are working to develop slogans and [Brodie is] seriously proposing plans.”
”I am honored and proud to be endorsed by the police,” Brodie said. “The Police Union’s endorsement
of my candidacy illustrates their confidence in me as a City Council member and their belief that I will
initiate real changes to make Atlanta safer.”
Here’s the public-safety plan to which Kreher referred. (Ben at Terminal Station has a good anecdotal post on why candidates should be giddy when they get such nods of support.)
Brodie’s opponents in the race to represent the district that includes the Midtown, Candler Park, Virginia-Highland neighborhoods are Bahareh Azizi, Tad Christian, Liz Coyle, Miguel Gallegos (who recently earned the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council’s endorsement) and Alex Wan.
Morningside resident Tad Christian says he’s joined the increasingly crowded race to represent District 6 on the Atlanta City Council.
Christian, who just completed a one-year term as President of the Morningside Lenox Park Civic Association, is now the sixth candidate to join the race to fill departing Councilwoman Anne Fauver’s seat.
From a press release announcing Christian’s candidacy:
Christian is an active member of the Morningside neighborhood, sits on the City of Atlanta’s Board of Zoning Adjustments, is a volunteer on the operations committee at Morningside Elementary School, and a maintenance volunteer at Morningside Presbyterian Preschool. “I am always working to resolve problems that plague our city neighborhoods, and this volunteer action led to me being elected as President of our neighborhood association,” said Christian. “I really want to take the knowledge and experience I have gained thorough volunteer service and participation on various zoning boards, to the City Council, where I can have a greater impact on improving a full range of issues facing our City.”
Before becoming a stay-at-home father, Christian worked 12 years in business development and industrial engineering.
Christian’s opponents in the race to represent the Morningside, Virginia-Highland, Midtown, Druid Hills and Candler Park neighborhoods are: Georgia Tech scientist Bahareh Azizi, Midtown business consultant Steve Brodie, community activist Liz Coyle, political newcomer Miguel Gallegos and Midtown businessman Alex Wan. And we’ll go ahead and say God and Jane Fonda, because it feel like just about everyone is gonna jump in this contest.
(Courtesy Tad Christian campaign)
