Atlanta Mayor's Race: Norwood Concedes Defeat

ATLANTA, GA — More than two weeks after Atlanta's runoff election for mayor, Mary Norwood has conceded defeat to fellow city Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms in a race settled by 821 votes.

In a video posted at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Norwood said she will not challenge the results in court, even though she believes voting irregularities happened.

"Although there were some irregularities with the election, I have decided not to contest it ... ," Norwood said in the video. "For the future of this city, I believe it is the right thing to do to move on and hold a new administration accountable to serve this great city well."

After finishing as the top two vote-getters in a crowded general election field, Bottoms and Norwood went into the runoff neck-and-neck, with Norwood holding a slim lead in most polling until days before the election, when Bottoms appears to have surged.

With more than 95,000 ballots cast, Bottoms appeared to have finished election night with a victory of 759 votes. After a recount requested by Norwood, that number edged up to 821.

It was an eerily familiar scenario for Norwood, who, eight years earlier, lost her race to current Mayor Kasim Reed by 714 votes.

A spokesperson for Bottoms told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was not aware of any contact between Norwood and Bottoms before the video was released. In it, Norwood said she spent the past two weeks examining the election results on behalf of her supporters.

"These supporters deserved my best analysis of the election and, for the past two weeks, that is what has been done," she said. "It has been exhausting and painful, but it was important to me, for their sake, and for everyone who believed in our vision of Atlanta — a city that is better together than it is divided — to do so."

And, while the video struck a mostly conciliatory tone, Norwood did have some sharp words for the campaign that was waged against her.

"As someone who has been involved in politics, I knew that it was a rough-and-tumble game. But I was appalled at the misrepresentations of me personally and of all those connected to me," Norwood said. "I was stunned to see that I, who had faithfully and equitably served all Atlantans for over two decades, was being accused of being a racist who would turn the clock back to 1950. They made it all about race and a divisive campaign.

"From the start, my goal was different. I was committed to running a campaign that traversed our entire city. Our campaign was always about embracing everyone in all of our diverse communities."

Norwood, a political independent, is white and Bottoms, a Democrat, is black. During the campaign, the Bottoms' campaign sought to link Norwood to Republicans, particularly President Donald Trump. Norwood would have become Atlanta's first white mayor since 1974.

After the general election, several black Democratic candidates endorsed Norwood, but she also received support from well-known Republican operatives in the race.

Bottoms is scheduled to be sworn in as Atlanta' s next mayor on Jan. 2.

Norwood photo courtesy Norwood for Mayor. Bottoms photo by David Goldman/AP.