Your friendly municipal election war chest round-up
Dickens leads Willis, Hall's sitting pretty and unopposed, and some are late filing reports
Atlanta's city elections are slowly starting to shape up with just four months to go. With the latest campaign finance reports available today, it's becoming increasingly clear what municipal positions will be up for grabs.
Most incumbents aren't facing strong challengers. Councilmembers Howard Shook, Yolanda Adrean, C.T. Martin, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Joyce Sheperd, and Michael Julian Bond are all running unopposed. Early challengers to Councilmen Kwanza Hall and Alex Wan have already stepped out of the race for various reasons, while Felicia Moore's and Ivory Young's opponents have no reported cash on hand. That likely means more than half of Council's current members will be back in office next year, provided no one else steps up before the August qualifying deadline.
Councilmembers Carla Smith, Aaron Watson, and Natalyn Archibong also appear to stand on safe ground despite drawing some opponents. Smith's foe, Robert Zachary Welsh, has been making the rounds since becoming one of the first challengers to announce his candidacy, but has not raised as much cash as Smith. A well-funded Watson will tee off against Buckhead attorney David Andrew Cox, who just announced his campaign last week. Not much is known about his platform or funding yet, but he could offer an alternative for those who aren't happy with the Post 2 At-Large incumbent. Archibong has three challengers - East Atlanta resident Matt Rinker has raised the most cash and been in the race the longest - but she could be tough to unseat given her progressive voting record.
Of the remaining incumbents, Councilmembers Cleta Winslow and H. Lamar Willis appear most vulnerable. While we don't know how Winslow stands financially - she has yet to file a disclosure - she has been under the microscope after a DUI arrest in May. After serving for two decades, Winslow's fighting off several opponents in the west Atlanta district. She does face a worthy challenger in Torry Lewis, a Clark Atlanta University Ph.D. candidate who has raised some modest campaign funds (plus, he has a campaign RV nicknamed "The Beast"!)
Willis has a respectable amount of cash to defend his seat, but he too has endured his own set of ethical and legal struggles. His personal woes might have fallen by the wayside without a formidable opponent. But that's not the case as he's fighting against Underwood Hills resident and Georgia Tech administrative staffer Andre Dickens, who has managed to raise an eye-popping $62,213 in recent months. He now has more than three times the cash that Willis has in his coffers. It'll be an uphill battle for Willis to win a fourth term.
We've compiled all the City Council campaign finance reports and linked to each candidates' contributors list, including the mayor's race. Feel free to rummage through them and leave your comments about who's lining up behind each candidate below.