Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell on Tuesday declared that Mary Norwood, “at this moment in time, is the best person to lead this city.”

“This is not a decision I made lightly, as a black man,” Mitchell said. “Let’s be real about this. It’s not a decision I made lightly as a Democrat.”

Mayor Kasim Reed, who endorsed Norwood’s opponent, Keisha Lance Bottoms, said he’s “totally unsurprised” and that Norwood and Mitchel were “one man, one woman, two losers.”

Mitchell said he was troubled by rehtoric coming out of the mayor’s office, calling it wasdivisive and demeaning. He said it “would ultimately lead to the disintigration of our community.”

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Michael Thurmond spoke to the AJC's Tia Mitchell during a  Politically Georgia forum at The Dogwood at Westside Paper in Atlanta on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Adam Beam/AJC)

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A migrant farmworker harvests Vidalia onions at a farm in Collins, in 2011. A coalition of farmworkers, including one based in Georgia, filed suit last month in federal court arguing that cuts to H-2A wages will trigger a cut in the pay and standard of living of U.S. agricultural workers. (Bita Honarvar/AJC)

Credit: Bita Honarvar