Reed issues challenge to Borders

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By Eric Stirgus

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

So much for talk of a boring mayor’s race.

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Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com Kasim Reed (center) greets supporters.

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Atlanta mayoral candidate Kasim Reed and the campaign of rival Lisa Borders traded barbs Wednesday over his standing in the race.

Reed suggested during a rally on the steps of City Hall that the two campaigns hire a company to conduct a poll on the mayor’s race and that they share the costs. Reed took a verbal shot at Borders, who said Tuesday in a response to a question about Reed that she’s “not looking at what anyone behind me is doing.”

“If [Borders] looks behind her, she won’t see anybody there,” said Reed, a former state senator, suggesting he’s passed her.

The Borders campaign declined the offer.

“Whatever poll you use, we’re either in a dead heat [with the front-runner, City Councilwoman Mary Norwood] or a close second,” Borders spokeswoman Liz Flowers said.

Reed, who filed paperwork Wednesday to officially run for mayor, says he’s surging in the polls, pointing to a poll done last week for his campaign that says he’s basically in a dead heat with Borders for second place. The Borders camp has raised questions about the poll.

The poll reports Norwood at 33 percent, Borders at 19 percent and Reed at 16 percent.

The Reed poll was conducted by Cornell Belcher of Brilliant Corners Research & Strategy, which conducted polls for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign last year.

The Borders campaign said it wants to see what questions were asked and the breakdown of support by age, race and gender.

Reed campaign spokesman Reese McCranie said Reed would be willing to provide such information, but he urged the Borders campaign to release its own poll results.

Wednesday’s verbal jousting produced the strongest language so far between the two campaigns.

During the rally, Reed responded to Borders’ comments that “the gloves are off” in her campaign.

“I don’t know whom they were referring to ... but I’m putting my gloves on,” he said to cheers from about 80 supporters.

Reed explained he was putting on “work gloves.”

Flowers said in response: “People put on gloves for one reason, and that’s to protect their hands. Lisa Borders is prepared to take a bare-knuckled approach to fixing the city’s finances and making Atlanta work. We don’t need a pair of gloves to do that.”

Reed said if elected, he would hire more police officers and reopen about two dozen recreation centers with some of the money raised from this year’s property tax increase.