City Council member Andre Dickens won an overflow political race Tuesday to turn into Atlanta’s next mayor, riding a flood of help that controlled him past the gathering’s present president, Felicia Moore, subsequent to completing second to her in November.
Dickens won a mission overwhelmed by worry over increasing vicious wrongdoing in the city, contending he would be more successful than Moore, who had regularly been an occasionally forlorn pundit of past chairmen in her 20 years on the City Council. Moore had been the main applicant by a long shot in the first round of deciding on Nov. 2 among 14 applicants in an nonpartisan race.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms made a totally open progression race when she reported in May that she wouldn’t look for a subsequent term.
The 47-year-old Dickens, an Atlanta native and engineer via preparing, joined the committee in 2013. He contended that his wide scope of involvement would permit him to address wrongdoing and other city issues including reasonable lodging and further developing freedom for more unfortunate occupants. Different issues in the race included bolstering struggling city services and keeping the wealthy Buckhead neighborhood from seceding.
“We voted for progress and a problem solver, for a bridge builder, for transformation,” Dickens told a crowd of hundreds during his victory speech Tuesday night. “And this work will start right now. We can’t wait any longer to address these issues.”
Dickens went from following the pack to require second on Nov. 2 and make the overflow, finishing the rebound endeavor of two-term previous Mayor Kasim Reed, who completed third. That snowballing support continued in the runoff, with endorsements by Bottoms, U.S. Rep. and Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Nikema Williams, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Sharon Gay, an attorney who finished fourth in Nov. 2 voting.
“I draw circles, I don’t define boundaries,” Dickens said. “And the circle tonight got real large.”
In the same way as other urban areas the nation over, Atlanta has been managing a spike in killings. As of Nov. 13, murders rose 10% over a similar period last year and 57% contrasted and 2019, Atlanta police information shows. A few of those killings caught widespread attention.
Dickens has vowed to build the number of cops, capture group pioneers and execute local area policing. He says he may keep current Police Chief Rodney Bryant, who came out of retirement in 2020 after a previous chief stepped down following a fatal police shooting of a Black man that led to unrest.
Dickens likewise needs to increment reasonable lodging, further develop framework and guarantee current occupants meet all requirements for lucrative positions. He recognized the city’s concerns Tuesday night, however at that point turned to idealism about the city’s capacity to change.
“Like they say, Atlanta influences everything,” Dickens said. “And it’s time that we use that influence to make some real change. Atlanta needs to show the world that we are leading, that we are leading on public safety, on criminal justice reform, that we are leading on affordable housing and eliminating the inequality that we have. ”
Moore, 60, settled on a decision for solidarity in her concession discourse, saying there’s no contrast between her allies and Dickens ‘because” all of us are camp Atlanta. ”
“We must be called to do what we needed every other person to do, and that is unite this city,” Moore said, explicitly approaching Buckhead inhabitants to work with Dickens and scorn severance and for Dickens to ensure he gives admittance to all groups.
Alexander Dawes, a 25-year-old person of color, said he decided in favor of Dickens on Tuesday at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church. Dickens ‘straightforwardness – and his position on open wellbeing – were key variables in his decision, Dawes said.