11:15 a.m.
We have posted a complete list with vote totals for the 10 races – yes, 10! – headed to the Nov. 30 runoff, plus last night’s winners, at this link.
Be sure to scroll back down this post to see the other winners and losers from last night and you can also check all the results at Fulton and DeKalb election sites.
This wraps our coverage here, but be sure to check for additional stories and updates about the election and upcoming runoff on this website.
8:55 a.m.
Good morning and welcome back to our ongoing election coverage. As expected, a couple of close races we reported on last night and earlier in the morning have more clarity, including the fact that Andre Dickens still holds a narrow lead over Kasim Reed to advance to the runoff with Felicia Moore for Atlanta mayor. Results aren’t official and Reed hasn’t conceded the race, so watch this space.
A couple of races hanging in the balance last night are now headed for runoffs. Doug Shipman will face Natalyn Archibong in the Atlanta City Council President race, while Mandy Mahoney eked out a handful of votes to chip away at Liliana Bakhtiari’s lead and force a runoff for the District 5 city council seat.
We’re working up a complete list of runoff contenders to post this morning, but in the meantime check back here for any breaking news.
1:05 a.m.
With all of DeKalb’s precincts reporting and Fulton at 99.41%, Andre Dickens appears to be headed to the runoff with Felicia Moore to become Atlanta’s next mayor. If that’s the case, it would be a surprise upset over former mayor Kasim Reed.
And in the Atlanta City Council Post 3 At-Large race, it appears Jacki Labat and Keisha Sean Waites will meet again in the Nov. 30 runoff.
Of course, things could change in the wee hours, so check back here in the morning for the final results and more election updates. Thanks for following along today.
12:45 a.m.
Vote tallies in DeKalb have put Andre Dickens in second place for Atlanta mayor, which means he could be facing Felicia Moore on Nov. 30.
12:40 a.m.
The nail-biter in Atlanta now (hey, the Braves won the World Series so we can breathe a sigh of relief there), is whether Kasim Reed or Andre Dickens will advance to square off with Felicia Moore in the mayoral runoff. Only about 500 votes separate the two candidates.
12:30 a.m.
With 99 percent of Fulton precincts reporting, it appears Doug Shipman will square off against Courtney English or Natalyn Archibong for Atlanta City Council President in the Nov. 30 runoff.
With 93% of precincts reporting in Fulton, it appears Atlanta City Council District 3 contenders Byron Amos and Erika Estrada will meet for the runoff.
The Atlanta School Board races aren’t all decided either.
Tamara Jones and Kanesha Venning are runoff bound for the District 7 At-Large seat, while incumbent Aretta Baldon will face Keisha Carey on Nov. 30.
Appearing to win their school board seats outright are incumbent Cynthia Briscoe-Brown (District 8 At-Large), incumbent Jason Esteves (District 9 At-Large), Katie Howard (District 1), Jennifer McDonald (District 4) incumbent Erika Mitchell (District 5), and incumbent Eshe Collins (District 6).
12:00 a.m.
With more than 95% of precincts reporting in Fulton, Felicia Moore is headed for a runoff in the Atlanta mayoral race, but with who is still unclear. Only about a thousand votes separate Kasim Reed and Andre Dickens for second place.
11:30 p.m
Some Atlanta City Council results to report:
While the results aren’t official, it appears that incumbent Michael Julian Bond will hold on to his Atlanta City Council District Post 1 At-Large seat after fending off four challengers.
Ditto for Matt Westmoreland who appears to hold his Post 2 At-Large seat.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Liliana Bakhtiari appears to have won the District 5 council seat, while Alex Wan has won District 6.
Incumbents Dustin Hillis (District 9), Andrea Boone (District 10), and Marci Collier Overstreet (District 11) all appear to have held their seats.
Also with 100 percent of precincts reporting, it appears Nathan Clubb and Jason Winston will be in a runoff for District 1. Incumbent Cleta Winslow and challenger Jason Dozier are also headed for a runoff in District 4. Incumbent Joyce Sheperd will face Antonio Lewis in the runoff.
11:10 p.m.
Fulton County just updated its numbers with 95.86% of the precincts reporting, Felicia Moore continues to lead with 33,432 votes to Kasim Reed’s 19,816 in the mayoral race. Andre Dickens is closing on Reed with 18,908 votes. Remember, a candidate has to get more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.
10:30 p.m.
Jumping over to check early voting numbers coming out of DeKalb for Atlanta mayor and we see that Felicia Moore is leading there as well with 1,665 votes, Andre Dickens with 898, and Kasim Reed with 498. Follow DeKalb results at this link.
10:20 p.m.
With 24.85% of Fulton precincts reporting, Felicia Moore (18,776) is leading Kasim Reed (11,393) to be the next mayor of Atlanta.
10:05 p.m.
Here’s what we know for sure: Atlanta City Council incumbents Amir Farokhi (District 2) and Howard Shook (District 7) will reclaim their seats since they had no challengers.
Former councilwoman and two-time mayoral candidate Mary Norwood is also definitely returning to city hall since she had no challengers for the District 8 seat.
Atlanta School Board District 3 incumbent Michelle Olympiadis also had no challengers and will reclaim her seat.
9:50 p.m.
The first vote counts reported in Fulton County show the education local option sales taxes has strong support.
The ESPLOST (Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax), which will generate revenue for the Fulton County and Atlanta Public school systems, had 44,279 votes (69.16%) voting yes and 19,742 (30.84%) voting no.
9:20 p.m.
Fulton County has started posting absentee and early voting results at its website.
In the Atlanta mayoral contest, Felicia Moore has nearly 14,000 votes to Kasim Reed’s 8,500. Andre Dickens is third, so far, with almost 7,000 votes.
For Atlanta City Council President, Doug Shipman has a slight lead over Courtney English followed by Natalyn Archibong.
It’s still way too early to call and no precincts have reported in yet. Stay tuned!
8:30 p.m.
Fulton County Elections Director Richard Barron said voter turnout out had been light, but steady throughout the day in Fulton County and the City of Atlanta during an 8 p.m. election update.
Barron said he was hopeful vote tabulation would be complete by midnight for the city. He said the election would be certified on Nov. 8 and dates for early voting in the likely runoff will be announced.
Fulton County is under performance review by the state, which is considering taking over the county’s elections following sweeping changes in the state’s voting ushered in by Republicans following former President Donald Trump’s loss to Biden in Georgia.
Barron said despite the narrative being spun by some state officials, Fulton County had “good elections” today and during last year’s presidential showdown.
Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said he visited 25 precincts across the county today and never saw any long lines. He said issues at some polling places were minor and didn’t disrupt the election process. “There is no such thing as a perfect election, but we’re doing everything we can to make it a pleasant experience and to make sure every vote will be counted,” Pitts said.
County Election Chair Cathy Woolard described it as a “great day in Fulton County with the election.” Woolard said she watched the action at the voting call center and found it “both enlightening and reaffirming that we have a great operation here.”
8 p.m.
Polls have closed in the City of Atlanta. We’re awaiting a briefing from Fulton County Elections Director Richard Barron. Check back for an update.
7 p.m.
Polls in the City of Atlanta are open for another hour, closing at 8 p.m. Voting locations in Fulton and DeKalb have closed.
At Lutheran Church of the Redeemer on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the voting precinct had less than a dozen people voting and there was no line at 6:30 p.m. The voting process itself took less than 10 minutes.
5:00 p.m.
With Felicia Moore and Kasim Reed leading the Atlanta mayoral pack (the undecided swings from 41 to 36% depending on the polling), you might be curious where they’ll be watching returns, celebrating a victory, or gearing up for a possible runoff.
Felicia Moore’s election night watch party kicks off at 8:30 p.m. at the Marriott Marquis in Downtown. Details on attending the party are at this link.
Kasim Reed’s party begins at 7:30 p.m at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown. There’s no link for the party, but his campaign said masks are required and proof of vaccination or negative COVID test within the last 72 hours to attend.
If you go to any of the watch parties tonight, pace yourself: with polls not closing until 8 p.m. results aren’t expected until midnight or later.
4:25 p.m.
If you’re a betting person, then you might be interested in the latest odds posted by US Bookies concerning the Atlanta mayoral race. Yes, folks bet on this kinda stuff, too.
Here’s the statement from US Bookies:
Felicia Moore’s odds to win the 2021 Atlanta Mayoral Election have continued to improve, according to betting aggregators US-Bookies.com. Felicia Moore’s odds have shifted from 5/6 (54.5% implied probability) to 1/2 (66.7%). Kasim Reed’s odds have shifted from 10/11 (9.1%) to 11/5 (31.3%).
“Last week, Felicia Moore overtook Kasim Reed as the favorite to be Atlanta’s next mayor, and her odds continue to improve heading into the election,” says a US-Bookies spokesperson. “At the same time, Kasim Reed’s odds continue to worsen, paving the way for Moore’s victory.”
Following Reed is Andre Dickens, whose odds improved slightly from 25/1 (3.8% implied probability) to 20/1 (4.8%), making him the only other candidate whose odds saw any movement. He’s followed by Sharon Gay and Kirsten Dunn, who are both tied at 33/1 (2.9%).
2:18 p.m.
Fulton County Elections Director Richard Barron said during at 2 p.m. election day briefing that there have been no significant lines at polling places across Atlanta and Fulton County.
He said equipment issues at John Burdine Center in southwest Atlanta and North Springs High School in Sandy Springs were quickly resolved and voters were allowed to use emergency ballots. Barron said he believed lines at polling places would grow as voters get off work.
Barron said 74,222 Fulton residents early voted and around 4,800 of more than 6,000 absentee ballots mailed out have been returned. Atlanta voters can return absentee ballots up until 8 p.m. today to one of three offices: 130 Peachtree St SW, Suite 2186, Atlanta; 7741 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs; and 5600 Stonewall Tell Road, South Fulton.
Barron said he expected results for Atlanta’s municipal elections would start coming in around midnight, but he said a runoff election on Nov. 30 is likely.
1:25 p.m.
The Fulton County Director of Registration & Elections Richard Barron will host two Press Briefings on Election Day. Scheduled for mid-day (2 p.m.) and following the close of all polling locations (8 p.m.), the Press Briefings will provide updates regarding the Elections Day process.
The meeting can also be viewed at:
Fulton Government YouTube: http://bit.ly/WatchFGTV
FGTV Live Stream: https://www.fultoncountyga.gov/watch-fgtv
1 p.m.
Good afternoon and welcome to Atlanta Intown and Reporter Newspapers coverage of municipal elections in our coverage areas. Be sure to bookmark this page and check back throughout the day, and especially this evening, as we post updates and results on who will be Atlanta’s next mayor and city council president and the outcome of city council and school board races.
There are likely to be runoffs due to the number of candidates vying for mayor and council. The runoff election will be held Nov. 30 for the top two candidates if no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote today.
So far, voters have seen light turnout at the polls, according to reports across social media. Polls in the City of Atlanta will remain open until 8 p.m.
If you’re still undecided about who to vote for, check out Election Guide Q&As with candidates for mayor and council.