Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated the district residency requirements for candidates qualifying for the Post 3 at-large seat.
Tuesday marks the first day candidates can qualify to run for Atlanta’s open City Council seat that will share a ballot with the consequential presidential contest on Nov. 5.
Residents will have the chance to vote on a new Atlanta City Council member to fill a coveted citywide position after former member Keisha Sean Waites resigned from the post in March.
Her decision triggered a special election that will be included on a ballot with the presidential rematch, U.S. House races and all 236 General Assembly seats. The seat is one of three that represents the whole city, with a term expiring in December 2025.
The next the council member will get the opportunity to add their voice to debate over Atlanta’s top issues like transportation expansion, affordable housing and public safety — including any questions that may arise over the city’s controversial public safety training center.
From Tuesday through end-of-day Thursday this week, interested candidates are required to make their way to Trinity Ave to submit paperwork and fees to the clerk’s office to kickoff the process. Top sources inside City Hall expect around 5 individuals to launch bids for the seat.
Municipal Clerk Corrine A. Lindo — who was appointed to the position in January — said candidates will sign affidavits confirming qualifying requirements as well as submit a $2,170 fee.
“Our role here in the clerk’s office is to qualify candidates,” she said. “To make sure whatever district they’re running in that they’re a resident and that they’re active on the voter registration in Fulton County.”
The three citywide positions on council allow whoever holds them the unique ability to focus on issues that impact all corners of Atlanta.
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com
Council member Michael Julian Bond, one of the council’s current at-large members, said the seats offer a way to expand legislation to make sense for all of the city’s neighborhoods and districts.
“The citywide seats provide a balanced perspective on issues, when you’re representing a district the focus is hyperlocal,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Having a citywide representative allows a kind of a counterweight against what might be seen as a selective interest to a particular neighborhood or area.”
Citywide council members say they have more leeway to consider long-term initiatives, and issues like managing population growth, hitting affordable housing goals and addressing rising climate concerns.
“Atlanta is very proud of its 240-plus neighborhoods and we talk a lot about how there’s not necessarily a one size fits all approach to the city,” said at-large Council member Matt Westmoreland.
As for who may be best fit for the job, Westmoreland said candidates should be familiar with all the different districts and their constituents’ needs.
“It is helpful to have had life experiences that have put you all over Atlanta in a way that allows you to kind of understand the diversity of the city — racially but also geographically and politically,” he said.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Four years ago, some 254,000 Atlanta voters turned out for the general election to weigh in on the presidential contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. That number is significantly higher than usual turnout for local elections.
The increased stakes on Nov. 5 will shine an unusual spotlight on City Council’s open seat. Bond said the high turnout will likely benefit all the candidates — from those who are already politically known to newcomers.
“It’s good if you’ve got a strong campaign, or you’ve got a lot of followers to try to get them out to the polls,” he said. “And it’s equally good for someone who may not have as large a base because they could ride the wave of the presidential turnout.”
Sitting council members expect that the candidates who qualify for the open seat will represent different swaths of Atlanta, highlighting the importance of campaigns’ get-out-the-vote messaging.
But if none of the candidates win outright and the race heads to a runoff, candidates will also face the challenge of getting those voters out to the polls again four weeks later.
“It seems to me that there’s a high probability of a runoff,” Westmoreland said. “So what you’re going to have is a general election where there will be more than 250,000 people voting — which is several times more than traditionally vote in a municipal election. And then in the runoff, you’re likely to have an incredibly low turnout, because there’s a chance that it’s the only thing on the ballot.”
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