Poll shows Norwood at 42 percent of vote; Borders at 34 percent

By Ernie Suggs

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

On the last day that anyone interested in becoming Atlanta’s next mayor had to officially get in the race, a new poll is showing that Mary Norwood and Lisa Borders are emerging as the women to beat.

In the latest Insider Advantage poll, Norwood had 42 percent of the vote, followed by Borders at 34 percent. The Matt Towery-run poll — conducted for WSB-TV — had Kasim Reed polling at nine percent and Jesse Spikes coming in at two percent.

With Friday’s filing deadline, much of the mystery about who, and how many people, was running for mayor was solved.

As many as 14 names had been floating around for months, but in the end there will be only six names on the ballot.

Joining Norwood, Borders, Reed and Spikes are: Peter Brownlowe, a former Atlanta police officer, and Kyle Keyser, the founder of Atlantans Together Against Crime.

One name that will not be on the ballot is Glenn Thomas, a former budget manager for the city’s Management Services Office. Thomas, who had been considered the fifth wheel, along with the established front-runners, quietly dropped out of the race early Friday morning.

His campaign never gained much traction or money and among the top candidates, he was always last in the polls.

“It was a tough decision, but I know it is going to be best for the city,” Thomas said. “Now, I am going to spend some time with my family. I have to make sure my family is healthy after a grueling nine months.”

Thomas said his main problem was that he was a new face and it was tough to raise money. Had he officially filed, he would have had to write a check for $4,425.

For the fund-raising period that ended June 30, Thomas raised $22,000 compared to Reed who raised $500,000 during that same period.

“With the recession, people are less likely to donate money to a new name and face,” Thomas said. “But with little money — partly due to our message of speaking to issues and finding solutions — we were able to be in the top five in this race. We believe we were successful.”

Now that the race has officially begun, Towery said it is going to be important for some of the candidates to start getting exposure.

“The key for Reed and Spikes is to go on television,” Towery said. “Voters don’t know who they are. Get thee on television.”

From a media standpoint, last week was a good one for Norwood and Borders, who both saw a boost in their numbers after being the primary targets of a controversial memo calling for a black mayor came out.

The memo called for the defeat of Norwood, who is white, while suggesting an endorsement of Borders.

All of the major candidates denounced the memo, issued by the Black Leadership Forum and written by two Clark Atlanta University professors, as racist.

“(Borders and Norwood) won the battle of free media,” Towery said. “People are now starting to pay more attention to the race.”

Towery said Norwood’s support among whites is 58 percent. Among blacks, it is 35 percent, which Towery expects to go down.

“This race will tighten up,” Towery said.