A bipartisan alliance spikes the ball at new Falcons stadium
The Republican governor, Democratic mayor and billionaire NFL team owner shared the stage – and shared plenty of credit – at Saturday's soft opening of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. You could almost sense the relief.
“I’ll tell you, I sure am happy now. It’s certainly one of the happiest days I’ve been on this job,” said the aforementioned mayor, Kasim Reed. “Because the process to get today – it was pretty tough.”
When the Falcons first sought public support for the $1.5 billion facility, state lawmakers staunchly resisted pumping taxpayer dollars into the new stadium. And the public perception was souring - one AJC poll showed nearly three-quarters of voters were against using hotel/motel tax collections to finance the deal.
Around that time, five years ago, a partnership was solidifying. Gov. Nathan Deal and Reed already had a famous bipartisan friendship, and soon Falcons owner Arthur Blank was meeting regularly with the political leaders to hash out the plan.
RELATED
About the Author
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
