Race Enters Atlanta Mayoral Vote

Imagine if a "White Leadership Forum" were actually in existence... and then imagine if it did this. How big would the demonstration in Washington, D.C. be? What would our President say?

From The Wall Street Journal:

Race Enters Atlanta Mayoral Vote

A local group known as the Black Leadership Forum called for African-Americans to consolidate their support around Lisa Borders, president of the Atlanta City Council and one of several African-American candidates, according to a memo circulated on the Web and to local media.

Rich Addicks/The Atlanta Journal Constitution

The local Black Leadership Forum has urged African-American voters to unite behind mayoral candidate Lisa Borders, above, to block the election of another candidate, Mary Norwood, below.

The group said Ms. Borders had the best chance of winning support from white business leaders and defeating Mary Norwood, a white city councilwoman and a leading candidate for the Nov. 3 election, according to polls.

"For the last 25 years Atlanta has represented the breakthrough for black political empowerment in the South," read the memo. "In order to defeat a Norwood (white) mayoral candidacy we have to get out now and work in a manner to defeat her without a runoff, and the key is a significant Black turnout."

The memo was the sharpest signal yet of overt racial politics creeping into the competition to replace Shirley Franklin, elected as the city's first female mayor in 2001. Atlanta was the first Southern city to elect an African-American mayor, Maynard H. Jackson, in 1973. No white candidate has mounted a serious campaign for the office since then.

Jason Getz/The Atlanta Journal Constitution

But Atlanta's demographics have shifted drastically in the past decade. The city of about 440,000 people remains a majority African-American city. But the proportion of voting-age residents who are white or Hispanic has grown.

Political scientist Bob Holmes, a professor emeritus at Clark Atlanta University and former state representative from Atlanta, said this group's effort to protect black political clout was inevitable, in part because of the shift in voting power as white newcomers moved to the city and many blacks moved to the suburbs.

"For a certain number of people, they do look at things through that prism," Mr. Holmes said. "They remember the history."

In recent months, with no clear heir apparent to Ms. Franklin, Ms. Norwood emerged as a contender. A recent poll conducted by polling firm InsiderAdvantage showed Ms. Norwood and Ms. Borders in a statistical tie. The sampling, conducted Aug. 17, showed Ms. Norwood with 30%, Ms. Borders with 28% and Kasim Reed, a state senator, with 8%. The margin of error was 5%.

Kasim Reed for Mayor

According to a recent poll, mayoral candidate Kasim Reed, a state senator, is trailing behind Ms. Norwood and Ms. Borders, who are in a statistical tie.

The call for black unity drew sharp criticism from Ms. Borders and her closest African-American competitor, Mr. Reed, who both insisted in separate news conferences Thursday that Atlanta must not choose its next mayor based on his or her race.

"We have had two Atlantas for far too long," Ms. Borders said.

Mr. Reed called the memo "racially charged and vitriolic" and said it "dishonors the legacies" of the black and white mayors who led Atlanta through the civil-rights movement and beyond. "This campaign should be waged on the merits of each candidate, not the color of their skin," Mr. Reed said.

Ms. Norwood, an at-large member of the city council who has campaigned on a pledge to improve crime-fighting and reorganize city government said, her candidacy is based on public safety and fiscal management.

"Race," she said, "does not play a role."

The Black Leadership Forum is an ad-hoc group of African-American leaders who include Aaron Turpeau, a well-known entrepreneur who worked in the administrations of Mayors Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young. Messrs. Jackson and Young had held the office in various terms for 20 years since 1973.

Mr. Turpeau, who contributed $500 to Ms. Borders' campaign, defended the memo's message.

"You shouldn't vote solely on having a black candidate," he said. "You have to deal with the credentials and skill set first. After that, it's a feeling of pride that we've had for 35 years in this town. Ego gets important."

Liz Flowers, a spokeswoman for Ms. Borders, distanced her candidate from the memo.

Ms. Flowers said the campaign found out about the memo late Wednesday, and Ms. Borders immediately called Mr. Turpeau. "She told him that she loved him and thanked him for his support, but she was disappointed in the message," Ms. Flowers said.

Write to Valerie Bauerlein at valerie.bauerlein@wsj.com