Another hat has entered the ring in the fight to succeed Kasim Reed as Atlanta’s mayor.
Michael Sterling, the 34-year-old former head of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, announced in a Tuesday morning tweet and slick campaign video that he was running for mayor.
He joins an already crowded field of mayoral hopefuls.
“My life has been a testament to what can happen when people can look out for you,” said Sterling, who was adopted out of a orphanage when he was a year-old and grew up in Beaumont, Texas. “I feel like a lot of my life has been serendipitous. Which is why I have made a concerted effort to live most of my life in public service. But I wanted to step from behind the scenes to out front to take on the challenge we face.”
In 2015, Sterling was vetted by the state Democratic party as a possible challenger to Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson. Before spending a little more than a year at AWDA, Sterling, a 2004 Morehouse College graduate, spent three years working as a senior advisor to Mayor Reed. He was also a former federal prosecutor in Chicago.
Sterling’s entry into the race gives the city at least eight candidates who have filed declarations to run in the November 2017 race.
Several high profile figures, including several current members of the Atlanta City Council are expected or rumored to be interested in running.
Based on money raised, City Council President Ceasar Mitchell and businessman Peter Aman are the clear early front-runners.
In July, when candidates were required to submit their financial disclosures, Mitchell reported that he had raised $567,947 for his campaign. Aman raised $285,716.
State representative Margaret Kaiser raised $153,000 and former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard, who officially declared a year ago that she was running for mayor, has raised more than $271,566 over that extended time period.
Kimberley Sue Johnson Obasuyi, Elbert Bartell and Debra Ann Hampton have also declared that they are running for mayor.
With Mitchell giving up his seat as council president to run for mayor, he sets up a domino effect that could have a seismic shift on the council. At least three powerful city council members – C.T. Martin, Alex Wan and Felicia Moore – are lining up for the presidency.
Each would have to vacate their current seats, which they have collectively held for close to 50 years.
Martin, who represents District 10 on Southwest Atlanta, would leave the seat he has occupied open for the first time in 25 years.
“I want to end my service to the city in that position because I have ideas that can benefit the city and allow the council to operate more efficient and effective,” Martin said. “But it is still about service.”
Wan, who is the first Asian member of the council, would vacate his seat in District 6 to run for council president.
“Everyone has ideas about improving operations and efficiency,” said Wan, who represents Midtown. “But what it will come down to is the leadership approach and how the council can support or challenge the administration. That is what it looks like.”
Moore, who represents District 9, hasn’t officially declared that she is running, but has not minced words about her intentions.
“Oh, I am running,” she said Tuesday. “As long as I am living, I am running.”
Moore said she would declare officially before the end of the year.
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