ATLANTA — Several candidates officially signed up to run for mayor of Atlanta Tuesday, including the two who topped our 11Alive poll last month.
That poll showed Kasim Reed ahead of Felicia Moore in the top two but ultimately showed more undecided voters than anything else.
With backers waiting for her outside, Felicia Moore made a low-key entrance to City Hall early Tuesday to officially qualify to run for mayor. Moore had announced her candidacy early this year before mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced she would not seek re-election.
Supporters for Moore and Reed awkwardly shared the scant dry space in front of City Hall, moments after Moore entered, exchanging loud chants backing their candidates.
Reed, the former two-term mayor, then entered City Hall through a public entrance he seldom used during his eight years as mayor.
Reed made a nostalgic sweep past the mayor’s office before he settled in to pay the $5529.00 fee required of candidates for mayor.
When Moore emerged, Reed’s supporters were still chanting – and kept it up for nine minutes while Moore tried to speak to her supporters afterward. The noise all-but drowned out her remarks.
"This is a proud moment for me even though people are being very disrespectful," Moore said of Reed's chanting supporters. "But this shows Atlanta what type of leadership you want and what type of leadership you don’t want at City Hall."
Moore’s supporters left when Moore left, allowing Reed to have the stage to himself when he emerged. When asked about his supporters' behavior, Reed said, "my supporters are enthusiastic, and I appreciate every one of them joining me this morning. I’m grateful and delighted that they are part of my campaign."
In our 11Alive poll last month, about a third of the voters said they were still undecided. That gives some hope for candidates like Sharon Gay, a one-time aide to former mayor Bill Campbell, who is seeking election for the first time.
"When I talk to people around the city, what I hear is a desire for something new, a desire for something different, a desire not to do things the same way we’ve been doing them," Gay said after qualifying.
Another candidate, Andre Dickens, is an at-large city councilman who has won two citywide races. He and Gay qualified much more quietly than their higher-profile opponents, Reed and Moore.
"I expect to become mayor, however that happens, whether a runoff or outright," Dickens said. "I’m telling my story, and people are excited about this style of leadership."
All four candidates have made fighting crime centerpieces of their campaign in a race that will count the votes eleven weeks from now.