Runoff Candidates Scored By Atlanta Business And Community Organization

ATLANTA — The 16 candidates vying for Atlanta City government seats in the Nov. 30 runoff elections are have been sized up by a community improvement organization.

The Community for a Better Atlanta this week released a condensed version of its voter guide, complete with scores of each candidate on the ballot which includes races for City Hall’s top two roles: mayor and city council president.

“It’s critical that Atlantans stay engaged and vote in these runoff elections,” said Denise Quarles, 2021 CBA Co-Chair and Head of External Affairs for the Southeast Region at Siemens. “We want CBA’s scores to help voters make informed choices about who will lead Atlanta.”

Early voting for the runoff begins on Nov. 17 and will run over the weekend through Nov. 24, and CBA wants to ensure that every eligible Atlanta voter makes it to the polls.

“It is our hope that every Atlantan will vote in these all-important runoff elections,” said Kyle Waide, 2021 CBA Co-Chair and President & CEO of Atlanta Community Food Bank.

The runoff is being held for the top two vote-getters in races where no candidate received the state constitutional minimum of 50 percent of the votes plus one.

Mayoral candidates Felicia Moore and Andre Dickens top the ballot after they bested a field of 14 opposers, and Dickens squeaked a win of roughly 600 votes over former Mayor Kasim Reed for the second spot in the runoff. Moore earned a score of 91 from the CBA versus a 90 for Dickens.

For city council president, Councilmember Natalyn Archibong scored a 91 in the CBA scoring to National Center for Civil and Human Rights CEO Doug Shipman’s 93.

Early in 2021 the CBA conducted in-person interviews and collected questionnaires to score the candidates against the organization’s policy platform addressing critical issues in public safety, affordable housing, transportation, ethics and transparency, city leadership, sustainability and city leadership, among others. Results were released in September.

“As we approach the runoffs, CBA’s evaluation process is a timely tool to inspire voters to get back to the polls and do their part to choose Atlanta’s leadership,” Waide said.

Full questionnaires and scores for participating candidates can be seen here. Candidate scores can be seen below:

MAYOR

CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

CITY COUNCIL: POST 3 AT LARGE

CITY COUNCIL: DISTRICT 1

CITY COUNCIL: DISTRICT 3

CITY COUNCIL: DISTRICT 4

CITY COUNCIL: DISTRICT 5

CITY COUNCIL: DISTRICT 12