Biz coalition rates city candidates; says Welsh, Rinker, Norwood score highest among challengers
The findings offer an interesting barometer about the citywide races in a quiet-yet-crowded election year
Several citywide candidates are shaping up to be strong contenders in the 2013 Atlanta elections, reports one business coalition.
The Committee for a Better Atlanta, a nonpartisan coalition of business and civic organizations, released its regular rankings of municipal candidates this week. And the findings offer an interesting barometer about the citywide races in a quiet-yet-crowded election year.
The committee, which includes input from the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Central Atlanta Progress, Turner, and Georgia Power, focuses on issues such as economic development, infrastructure, homelessness, and public safety. Following the city's qualifying deadline, CBA vetted 30 of the 40 citywide candidates running this November for mayor and Atlanta City Council (including some unopposed ones) with a questionnaire and an in-person interview. You can read the answers to those questionnaires, some of which are hilarious, on the website.
The candidate scores are based on those two components as well as incumbents' past voting records. In addition, the CBA notes that outstanding ethics issues didn't attribute to their findings.
We've listed each candidate's score after the jump. (Note: The CBA defines an 88 or higher as "excellent," 79 to 87 as "well qualified," 70 to 78 as "average;" and below 70 as "not qualified")
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Candidate, Office, Score, Category
M. Kasim Reed, Mayor, 99, Excellent
Al Bartell, Mayor, 75, Average
Glenn Wrightson, Mayor, 43, Not Qualified
Fraser Duke, Mayor, N/A, Did not participate
Ceasar Mitchell, Council President, 92, Excellent
Rachele Fruit, Council President, N/A, Did not participate
Carla Smith, District 1, 86, Well Qualified
Robert Welsh, District 1, 85, Well Qualified
Bill Powell, District 1, N/A, Did not participate
Kwanza Hall, District 2, 83, Well Qualified
Ivory Young, District 3, 84, Well Qualified
Darrion Fletcher, District 3, 48, Not Qualified
Patricia Harris-Crayton, District 3, 53, Not Qualified
Cleta Winslow, District 4, 84, Well Qualified
Torriel "Torry" Lewis, District 4, 81, Well Qualified
DeBorah Sister Williams, District 4, N/A
Natalyn Archibong, District 5, 91, Excellent
Matt Rinker, District 5, 85, Well Qualified
Christian Enterkin, District 5, 71
Jon Jones, District 5, 71
John Paul Michalik, District 5, N/A
Alex Wan, District 6, 93, Excellent
Tracey Austin, District 6, 68, Not Qualified
Mike Boyle, District 6, N/A
Howard Shook, District 7, 91, Excellent
Bobby Montgomery, District 7, 77, Average
Abid Haque, District 7, N/A, Did not participate
Yolanda Adrean, District 8, 95, Excellent
Felicia Moore, District 9, 87, Well Qualified
Duwon Robinson, District 9, 54, Not Qualified
Ricardo Mosby, District 9, N/A, Did not participate
Clarence T. Martin, District 10, N/A, Did not participate
Keisha Lance Bottoms, District 11, 91, Excellent
Ron Shakir, District 11, N/A, Did not participate
Joyce Sheperd, District 12, 89, Excellent
Michael Julian Bond, Post 1 At-Large, 91, Excellent
Aaron Watson, Post 2 At-Large, 95, Excellent
Mary Norwood, Post 2 At-Large, 86, Well Qualified
H. Lamar Willis, Post 3 At-Large, 92, Excellent
Andre Dickens, Post 3 At-Large, 83, Well Qualified
Several races stand out based on the findings. High scores from Council challengers Robert Welsh, Torry Lewis, Matt Rinker, Mary Norwood, and Andre Dickens suggest those races will be among the most competitive ones to watch. It's also worth a mention that Mayor Kasim Reed earned the highest ranking, Kwanza Hall received the lowest of all councilmembers, and C.T. Martin didn't participate.