Dec 1, 2021 - Politics & Policy

City Council member Andre Dickens wins Atlanta mayoral race

Atlanta City Councilman Andre Dickens attends his run-off election night party at The Gathering Spot on November 30, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. — Atlanta Mayor-elect Andre Dickens in Atlanta late Tuesday. Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images

City Council member Andre Dickens won a runoff election Tuesday to become Atlanta's next mayor, soundly beating the council's president Felicia Moore.

The big picture: Dickens just a few months ago was considered to have an outside chance of replacing Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who announced in May that she wouldn't seek a second term.

He rallied votes in a campaign that placed public safety as a priority policy, focusing on "real bread and butter issues," rather than looking to defund the police — a strategy that could be a template for other Democrats, according to Dickens' strategist Chris Huttman.

What they're saying: "My real opponent in this race was never one of those 13 opponents that we thought they were. My opponent is homelessness, hopelessness, joblessness, racism, poverty, violence," Dickens said in his victory speech late Tuesday.

"My opponent requires all of us and that's what we're fighting against."

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City Council member Andre Dickens wins Atlanta mayoral race

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