This year's election circus may be coming to an end in 46 days (who's counting?), but Atlanta's 2017 mayoral race continues to heat up, with yet another candidate mulling a bid to replace the outgoing Kasim Reed.
The Buckhead Review is reporting that Post 2 At-Large City Councilwoman Mary Norwood told the neighborhood's condo alliance on Tuesday evening that she will
on Oct. 5 for another possible mayoral run:
Norwood and Post 3 At-Large City Councilman Andre Dickens were concluding an hour and a half session with a very small crowd of eight members of the Buckhead Condo Alliance when she made the off-the-cuff announcement, stating she might be the 11 th candidate for mayor in next year's election campaign.
This of course isn't Norwood's first run for mayor. She narrowly lost to Reed in a runoff seven years ago by just over 700 votes and has long been considered a possible contender for 2017.
Norwood told the Review that she would wait until after the presidential election before announcing whether she'll run, but the paper said the exploratory committee and intel from other sources "strongly suggests Norwood has already determined to once again seek election to the post of Atlanta's mayor."
Norwood is eyeing an already crowded field of mayoral hopefuls that includes several other current or former members of the City Council, including President Ceasar Mitchell; former President Cathy Woolard; Michael Sterling, the head of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency; and businessman Peter Aman.
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Locked in a tough battle for re-election, the fight over "religious liberty" legislation is set to be a key part of Democratic state Rep. Taylor Bennett's bid for a second-term.
The freshman Brookhaven legislator was one of the most outspoken opponents of the proposal, which Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed in March. Georgia Equality, the gay rights group, endorsed him this week and his campaign brandishes the support of Allen Fox,interim head of the Georgia Log Cabin Republicans.
His opponent, Republican attorney Meagan Hanson, hopes to give him no opening on that front: She has said she agrees with Deal's nixing of the law.
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Conservative radio host Erick Erickson revisited his opposition to Donald Trump after months on the front lines of the Never Trump movement -- for a moment, at least.
In a post on his blog the Resurgent, Erickson (who at WSB shares the same corporate overlords we do) spends more than 2,700 words wrestling with the idea of whether his deep opposition to Hillary Clinton may be enough to compel him to vote for Trump.
"At least with Trump we might, might, get a better Supreme Court. We might get better cabinet picks. In fact, in terms of my view of the country the odds are pretty great that my side has a greater chance of prevailing with Trump than Clinton. What most would identify as my side would have control of the Executive Branch and the powers of appointment and regulation that come with it."
Spoiler alert: Erickson eventually settles on where he started -- that he can't support Clinton or Trump. His main reason for ditching the Republican nominee? Trump's morality and what it would mean for the church:
"That I see so many Christians justifying Donald Trump's immorality, defining deviancy down, and turning to anger and despondency about the future tells me I cannot in good faith support Donald Trump because his victory would have lasting, damaging consequences for Christianity in America. We harm our witness and the testimony of the strength of our Lord by embracing the immoral, unrepentant strong man. We harm our American virtue by buying into the idea that one man can make America great again. Further, we risk losing Donald Trump's soul for the sake of our selfishness."
Ouch.
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U.S. Rep. John Lewis slammed Donald Trump's recent comments that some of America's inner cities "cannot get much worse."
The Atlanta Democrat and alum of the civil rights era had this response in an appearance on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports yesterday:
"I don't know what Mr. Trump is talking about. To say that the situation for African-American is worse than it's ever been is to talk about worse than slavery? Worse than the system of segregation and racial discrimination when we couldn't take a seat at a lunch counter and be served? Worse than being denied the right to register to vote, to participate in a democratic process? To live in certain neighborhoods and communities?
We have seen changes. If he failed to believe that things have changed, I invite him to come and walk in my shoes."
As for the recent police shootings in Tulsa and Charlotte, Lewis said more training is needed in community policing. He also called for America to have a broader discussion about race and policing:
"We all live in the same country. And sometimes, we have to come together and lay down this heavy burden. It's just creating bitterness, division, and we cannot let that continue in a democratic society."
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