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In 2009, Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood lost her bid to become mayor against a young state senator named Kasim Reed by roughly 600 votes. Seven years later, with Reed bumping against term limits and heading out of City Hall, Norwood wants to give it another shot.Norwood, a Buckhead resident, filed her paperwork this morning to start raising cash for her 2017 mayoral campaign. Over the next several weeks, Norwood says, she will “continue to be in communities throughout our city with Atlantans from every part of our great city.” Here’s her brief statement on her run:I am running for Mayor of Atlanta to give all Atlantans a responsible, transparent and accountable government that will ensure that we have a safe city, a sustainable city and a prosperous city for ALL of our citizens. With over 25 years of citywide service, I have a unique understanding of our city’s communities--their issues, needs, and aspirations. As this city’s next Mayor, I will make certain that every community in this great city has the quality of life they deserve. Your issues will be my issues and they will be addressed so that our city will be safe and you will have the accountability that you desire and expect from your city government.After losing her contentious 2009 runoff against Reed, Norwood
launched an effort to unseat Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves but failed to register in time.
A legal battle followed. In 2013, she defeated at-Large Councilman Aaron Watson and returned to City Hall. Since rejoining Council, Norwood has pushed for more transparency. She and Councilwoman Felicia Moore, a fiscal watchdog and likely Atlanta City Council president candidate, are
co-sponsoring a proposal to make city finances viewable online. She’s also exhibited the same talent for being seemingly everywhere, all the time, that she displayed in the late 00s. We’ve said it before, but Norwood is the closest thing City Hall has to the Energizer Bunny. When she’s not talking with people in their living rooms, she’s shaking hands at their neighborhood festivals, or sitting in the front row at community meetings, like she did last night at the Atlanta City Studio at the Central Atlanta Library. That’s partly what catapulted her to the runoff eight years ago. Municipal races are nonpartisan but that hasn’t stopped past opponents from trying to questioning Norwood’s political affiliation. In 2009, when asked why she had voted for Republican candidates and attended state GOP conventions, Norwood
made one of the best analogies we’ve ever heard. In 2013, the Democratic Party of Georgia, in an unusual move,
jumped into the nonpartisan race with a mailer accusing Norwood of “trying to hide her Republican record.” Norwood’s standard refrain was that she wasn’t red or blue, but purple. She intended to run as an independent for Fulton chairman.So the big questions are: Will Norwood enjoy the same level of support in an incredibly crowded field of candidates? Will someone try to paint her again as a Republican next year? If they do, what impact will it have in a city that has changed dramatically over the past eight years? Only the academics, pollsters, and campaign consultants know. Regardless, welcome to the chaos, Councilwoman Norwood!