Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed didn’t say anything publicly Wednesday about the dwindling chances of a comeback bid as election results continued to show him trailing third place behind Felicia Moore and Andre Dickens.
But on social media, Reed and his supporters were more vocal, spreading disinformation or sowing doubt about the outcome of the race.
Reed is in no rush to concede, trailing Dickens by 612 votes in the still unofficial results. He’s got every right to wait until the votes are finalized, particularly because there are a few hundred absentee and provisional ballots to be tallied. (Privately, some of Reed’s key allies acknowledge the reality that he’s got only a vanishingly slim shot of making the runoff.)
But Reed’s allies infuriated some in Atlanta’s political circles by spreading an erroneous radio report that alleged a new batch of Fulton County ballots showed Dickens had fallen behind Reed.
The report was retracted, and Fulton County officials took to Twitter to note that “no additional votes were added” Wednesday. Still, Reed’s allies pushed the false narrative about newly-found votes – and the former mayor amplified it.
Reed retweeted a voter who questioned whether he made the runoff, even though he is still trailing in the tally. And he “liked” a Twitter post from an ally who promoted the incorrect radio report.
Other Reed supporters promoted tallies of Fulton County’s vote that showed him leading Dickens, leaving out votes from portions of Atlanta that are in DeKalb County. Combine the two figures and you’ll have a complete count that shows Dickens on track for the second runoff spot.
The messaging caused a mess behind the scenes. Senior Democratic officials hopped on conference calls and text chains to try to deduce whether the claims were true.
One former aide pronounced the misinformation an embarrassment to Reed and called on the former mayor to condemn it; another said it was “downright Trumpian.”
In the meantime, the Nov. 30 runoff is moving forward – and Dickens is preparing to square off against Moore for the city’s top job.
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Speaking of Kasim Reed, the AJC’s Wilborn Nobles and J.D. Capelouto have taken a first stab at explaining why he fell from front-runner to a likely third-place finish in the race.
In a nutshell: today’s Atlanta is much different than the one Reed led from 2010 to 2018.
But experts said Reed returned to a city that’s changed in the years since he managed it. Residents have sought solutions from City Hall amid a lack of affordable housing, economic disparities and social unrest following police misconduct.
Ultimately, Tuesday’s results suggest the former mayor — considered a frontrunner throughout the election due to his name recognition, fundraising ability and political prowess — was not able to overcome low favorability numbers across demographic lines, said Emory University political science Andra Gillespie.
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Two notable political developments took place in Georgia in the immediate aftermath of Glenn Youngkin’s victory in the race for Virginia governor.
First, the National Republican Congressional Committee released a new list of targets that included U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, a moderate Democrat who represents the majority-Black 2nd Congressional district that stretches from Middle to Southwest Georgia.
Like every other district, Bishop’s boundaries are set to be redrawn over the next few weeks by lawmakers in special session. And GOP activists are encouraging legislators to make Bishop’s seat more conservative – even if it risks legal action.
“My phone has been buzzing all morning on higher profile interest in defeating Bishop,” said Brandon Phillips, who chairs the GOP 2nd District. “There’s a red wave coming, and I don’t think Sanford can surf.”
Bishop, 74, is the chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and has won his last five races by about 60% of the vote over GOP challengers. He’s been in Congress since 1993.
If Bishop were to retire, it would be even tougher for another Democrat to duplicate his successes in this region.
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Also on Wednesday, University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato and his Crystal Ball elections prognosticator moved U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s reelection bid from “leans Democratic” to “toss-up.”
The Virginia results, according to Sabato, show the political environment for Warnock’s reelection is getting worse. Other vulnerable senators in Arizona, Colorado and Nevada received the same analysis. More:
While we have not been particularly impressed with Republican candidate recruiting in these races — former NFL star and Trump favorite Herschel Walker seems like a particularly risky choice in Georgia, assuming he wins the nomination — these moves are almost entirely about the environment. Moreover, even if Republicans don’t end up running strong candidates in these races, all 3 states are markedly less blue than Virginia.
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U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux has been involved in behind-the-scenes discussions among vulnerable Democrats about how to counteract Republicans’ messaging on education and related culture wars. Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia has been attributed at least partially to firing up conservative parents with a message that they should be more involved in decision-making at schools.
CNN reports that Bourdeaux disagreed with a Black colleague, Illinois’ Lauren Underwood, who wanted to confront the GOP messaging more forcefully. The Suwanee Democrat, according to the article, preferred giving the issue as little attention as possible.
The conversation happened a week before Election Day. Bourdeaux told CNN it was “one of many conversations among members from competitive districts about how to engage with our diverse and broad constituencies.”
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We’re expecting former state Superintendent John Barge to announce a comeback bid this Sunday when he holds a 4 p.m. event near the state Capitol.
Barge, a Republican who unsuccessfully challenged then-Gov. Nathan Deal in 2014, left little to the imagination with his invite. The notice dubs the event a campaign kickoff. It’s motto: “Restore the foundation.”
He would face incumbent Richard Woods, though some statehouse insiders speculate the Republican might not stand for another term.
https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1456047142167056384
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Gov. Brian Kemp joined Attorney General Chris Carr and Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black to assail federal vaccine requirements that the GOP leaders are challenging in court.
The governor called President Joe Biden’s push to mandate that federal contractors and others working for larger companies be inoculated against the coronavirus an “outrageous big-government power grab” that risks livelihoods.
“President Biden and his administration want to invade the personal lives of thousands of Georgians, burdening hundreds of businesses of all sizes and endangering countless jobs,” Kemp said.
Georgia filed a lawsuit last week in federal court in Augusta challenging the administration’s rules. More than a dozen GOP-led states have now brought court challenges in four separate complaints.
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Two Georgia Democrats-- state Rep. Park Cannon and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams-- were named to the Root’s annual list of the 110 most influential African Americans in the country.
Cannon rose to national prominence earlier this year when she was removed from the state Capitol and arrested by Georgia state troopers after repeatedly knocking on Gov. Brain Kemp’s office door.
Inside his office, Kemp was signing Senate Bill 202, the state’s new election law and surrounded by Republican lawmakers beneath a painting of a Georgia plantation.
Williams was elected to the U.S. House in 2020 to fill the 5th District seat of the late Congressman John Lewis. She also serves as chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia and is partially credited with the party’s successes here recently.
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As always, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
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