Norwood keeps double-digit lead in mayoral race as Bottoms, Aman surge

Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood, one of a number of candidates hoping to succeed Kasim Reed as mayor of Atlanta, maintains her lead in the latest Channel 2 Action News poll.

Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood, one of a number of candidates hoping to succeed Kasim Reed as mayor of Atlanta, maintains her lead in the latest Channel 2 Action News poll.

Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood maintained her double-digit lead in a new Channel 2 Action News poll of the race to succeed Kasim Reed as the next mayor of Atlanta.

When asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, 25.4 percent of the 500 likely voters surveyed in the poll chose Norwood.

She was followed by fellow Atlanta City Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms at 12.4 percent and former city of Atlanta COO Peter Aman at 12.1 percent.

“I will work hard over the next several weeks to earn the votes of all our citizens,” Norwood said in a release last week after she qualified in the race. “If I win, all of Atlanta will win.”

Bottoms, who attended the unveiling of the new Martin Luther King Jr. statue at the Georgia state capitol on Monday, said she was pleased where her campaign’s progression, adding that her top three topics — education, transportation and crime — are resonating with voters looking for her leadership.

“The support and the momentum is behind me and I’m very excited about winning,” she said.

Aman, who has improved several points since Channel 2’s poll last spring, said his campaign has employed an iceberg strategy. While he has worked to build name recognition on the surface, the effort to build a base has been beneath the surface.

“It was always part of the plan, and we’re thrilled that the WSB poll shows what our internal polling has been showing,” he said. “We have have had five polls in the last few months and it has been a consistent trend up for us.”

TheWSB-Channel 2 survey, which was conducted by Landmark Communications, had a margin of error of 4.37 percent. About 17.4 percent of voters had no opinion or were undecided.

The race was set unofficially last Friday after 13 people qualified to run for the office, which Reed will leave in January after his second of two terms. The election will be held on Nov. 7.

Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell was in fourth place in the poll at 10.4 percent, followed by former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard at 6.6 percent. State Sen. Vincent Fort received 6.1 percent of the vote in the poll while Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall was at 5.2 percent.

John Eaves, who resigned last week as Fulton County Commission Chairman to quality for his run for mayor, was at 3.6 percent.

The remaining candidates received less than 1 percent of the vote or were not polled. They are former Atlanta Workforce Development Agency director Michael T. Sterling, Rohit Ammanamanchi, Laban King, Carl A. Jackson and Glenn S. Wrightson.