Atlanta mayoral long shots give it their best shot

And there’s Kyle Keyser, who attended a rally protesting alleged police misconduct because he wasn’t invited to the first televised debate of the campaign.

Another write-in candidate, Aaron Ford Duke Lewis, 27, sat in the audience at that debate and afterwards talked to anyone who’d listen about the federal budget deficit.

Welcome to the world of Atlanta’s upstart mayoral candidates.

None of them have six-figure campaign war chests. Their staffs are small; some don’t have any. They have received no endorsements. They’re given little chance of winning.

But still they are out there and trying.

“I’m hoping to catch a wave and hope people will recognize ... we need to do something different,” said Brownlowe, 48, who resigned his job as an Atlanta police officer to run.

Brown and Keyser are relying on the power of the Internet to connect with voters. Keyser, 36, raised the $4,425 qualifying fee to run in 48 hours on his personal Web site.

Brown, 30, a Spelman College graduate, is using Twitter to drum up support for her bid. By the middle of last week, Brown had 2,157 followers, more than any of the four front-line candidates.

Most polls suggest at least 20 percent of Atlanta voters are undecided about their choice for mayor, which gives these candidates hope. However, Keyser knows the odds for Nov. 3.

“I don’t expect to win because there’s a lot to overcome in a short amount of time,” said Keyser, who decided to run for mayor in late August. “But anything is possible.”

Keyser started a group, Atlantans Together Against Crime, earlier this year in response to his concerns about crime. He was once robbed at gunpoint.

The Little Five Points resident said he decided to run for mayor after friends said they weren’t sure which candidate would truly address crime issues.

Keyser said he would go after juvenile criminals but also offer more recreational programs. He wants to give police officers raises as part of his plan to boost their morale.

Some believe Keyser will have an impact on the election because of his work with ATAC and his ties to the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

“He’s young, progressive. I think he’s made political leaders pay attention,” said Kyle Bailey, a prominent LGBT political activist who’s helped Keyser’s campaign.

Keyser admits he’s no polished politician. His personal Web site includes advice for avoiding bill collectors and profanity.

“I didn’t groom myself for politics,” he said. “I [ran] for a city I truly love.”

Brown, on the other hand, ran briefly for mayor in 2005. She dropped out of the race to help relatives who lost their homes during Hurricane Katrina.

Brown, who owns a vending machine company and helps people manage nonprofits, is running on bringing new revenue to the city and improving its streets and sidewalks. She proposes a parking surcharge at public garages on non-Atlanta residents and recruiting more telecommunications and “green” businesses to the city.

Brown, who lives near Midtown, admits she has to convince people she’s a candidate with serious ideas.

“I have to work hard to get the citizens of Atlanta to trust me,” said Brown.

Lewis, 27, who lives near Grove Park in northwest Atlanta, wants to reduce unemployment and is worried about graduation rates in the city’s public school system.

“I only want to present my solutions,” Lewis said in a news release.

Brownlowe, a 15-year police department veteran, says he’ll clean up the city’s streets. The wiry Bronx, N.Y., native notes he’s known as “RoboCop” by business owners and vagrants in the Five Points area, where he once patrolled.

“I enforced the law,” he explained.

Brownlowe, who lives in Buckhead, says he would also set up toll booths on local highways to charge suburbanites who work in Atlanta to generate revenue for City Hall.

And as for catching that wave?

“It’s possible,” he said. “But I realize we don’t have a lot of time. I hope that something will catch.”