A poll commissioned by Fox 5 Atlanta showed City Councilwomen Keisha Lance Bottoms and Mary Norwood in a statistical tie with less than a week before the vote for Atlanta mayor.
The station reported that the poll of 500 registered Atlanta voters, which was conducted by Opinion Savvy, had Bottoms at 41.5 percent and Norwood at 38.7 percent. About 20 percent of the respondents were undecided. The margin of error was 4.4 percent.
It was the first public poll released during the runoff phase of the election to succeed Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
The two rivals combined for 47 percent of the vote in the first round of voting earlier this month, and since then they’ve both scrambled to win over their former adversaries and their supporters.
The poll was conducted on Sunday and Monday, largely before one of the bigger developments in the contest: Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin’s decision to endorse Norwood. She joined ex-City Council President Ceasar Mitchell and businessman Peter Aman at a Monday press conference to announce her support.
Both campaigns spun the poll as a sign of momentum, with Bottoms claiming it signaled a “brand new race” and Norwood saying she was “delighted” by the dead heat.
The station didn’t immediately release crosstabs, but we’ll update this story if we get them.
More recent AJC coverage of the Atlanta mayoral race:
Of ‘thugs’ and ‘coded language’ Atlanta mayoral candida tes clash in GPB debate
Woolard grills Bottoms and Norwood in Atlanta mayor’s race
With Atlanta mayor vote, a fabled bipartisan alliance comes to an end
A closer look at the big-name endorsements in the Atlanta mayor’s race
Atlanta mayoral hopefuls call for transparency. How do they measure up?
Norwood questions 2009 mayoral vote as another Atlanta runoff looms
Shirley Franklin, Peter Aman endorse Norwood’s Atlanta mayoral bid
‘Party of Trump?’ Democrats launch ad linking Norwood to president
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