At her campaign headquarters Tuesday night on Ormewood Drive in East Atlanta, Norwood appeared confident as she greeted supporters as they ate hot dogs and red velvet cupcakes washed down with beer.
“As you can see, we have a great diverse group of people in Atlanta, we have a great diverse group of people who support this candidacy,” she said.
Norwood’s gay fan base in this race goes back to her unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2009 when she came out for full marriage equality. She again heavily courted LGBT voters in this campaign and even received an endorsement from gay bar Blake’s on the Park.
Watson, however, is no stranger to supporting LGBT issues. This year he voted in favor of a city resolution supporting marriage equality that was sponsored by openly gay District 6 Councilmember Alex Wan.
He was endorsed by the LGBT Stonewall Democrats, by staunch LGBT advocate U.S. Rep. John Lewis and also had the backing of Mayor Kasim Reed, who was easily re-elected to a second
term. Georgia Equality chose not to endorse in this race, instead giving both candidates a “favorable rating.”
Norwood said the first issue she wants to tackle as a council member is public safety and she pointed to her endorsements by the city’s firefighters, police and general employees.
“They know I care about operational issues and compensation issues. And because I did run for mayor and was able to get in the weeds four years ago … I feel ready to hit the ground running,” she said.
As for a second mayoral run, Norwood said she didn’t know if that was necessary.
“Those two years were a long, difficult two years for me. I ran because there were things I couldn’t get done as a council person,” she said. But now she believes she can get her issues passed as a council member.
“With me it’s not about the title but getting the job done,” she said.
The race for mayor in 2009 in which Reed defeated Norwood in a runoff by only 700 votes was often contentious between the two, but Norwood said she is ready to work with the mayor now.
“I called the mayor when I announced and told him I looked forward to working with him if elected. I’m not going to [City Hall] to give anyone heartburn,” she said.
Alex Wan re-elected to Atlanta City Council District 6
Alex Wan coasted to victory over his two opponents in the Atlanta City Council District 6 race with nearly 80 percent of the vote.
With 94 percent of the precincts reporting, Wan had 77 percent of the vote, or 3,125 votes; while Mike Boyle had 14 percent with 573 votes; and Tracey Austin finishing last with 377 votes, or 9 percent, according to unofficial results from the Fulton County election office.
Wan’s watch party Tuesday was held at the iconic Colonnade restaurant on Cheshire Bridge Road.
His proposed legislation earlier this year to ban adult stores on the popular corridor was blasted by many in the LGBT community and eventually voted down by the full city council. It was a deliberate choice to celebrate his victory on this particular thoroughfare, he said.
“I’m a very big supporter of Cheshire Bridge Road and the Colonnade is symbolic to me of as one of the institutions of Cheshire Bridge Road. There are many businesses that continue to prosper here,” he said.
Wan, the only openly gay council member, said there will be no legislation similar to what he proposed during his first term for Cheshire Bridge Road, but plans are still in the works to find ways to help it thrive.
“In 30 to 60 days we hope to announce another initiative and improve Cheshire Bridge Road in a constructive way and not destructive way,” he said. “There were improvements that were started and not completed and hopefully we will find a way to complete that work.”
Running for a second term was humbling, Wan added.
“Campaigns are interesting. Choice is good for a district. It was interesting to see what my opponents had to say. And I realize there are things I have to work on in my community, not just the I am a part of but the ones I belong to. And I take that into my next term and will hopefully be a better council member,” he said.
In other races:
• In another close race and major upset, political newcomer Andre Dickens beat three-term incumbent Lamar Willis for the Post 3 At-Large seat on the Atlanta City Council with 53 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Fulton election office. Willis, mired in ethics complaints and disbarred for fraud, was still endorsed by Mayor Reed. Dickens, however, got the support of former Mayor Shirley Franklin and former City Council President Cathy Woolard. Georgia Equality at first did not endorse in this race, but after Willis was disbarred the LGBT advocacy group threw its support behind Dickens. Dickens was also backed by the Stonewall Democrats.
• The messy Atlanta City Council District 5 race that included incumbent Natalyn Archibong suing the two gay candidates, Matt Rinker and Christian Enterkin for libel and slander, resulted in an easy victory for Archibong, according to Fulton County unofficial results. Archibong garnered 62 percent of the vote while Enterkin received 26 percent, Rinker got 7 percent and John Paul Michalik received 2 percent.
• Gay incumbent Brian Bates lost his re-election bid for the Doraville City Council, according to unofficial results from DeKalb County. Unofficial DeKalb voting results show O’Connor received 262 votes with Bates garnering 183. Bates was first elected in 2007 and was endorsed by Georgia Equality and the Log Cabin Republicans. He is believed to be the first openly gay Republican elected to office in Georgia.