GOP state candidates who support Buckhead seceding from the city of Atlanta “do so at their own peril,” according to a new poll and data commissioned by groups opposed to the cityhood movement.
The Committee for United Atlanta and Neighbors for a United Atlanta released polling data from 20/20 Insight LLC on Sept. 28. Numbers show Republican John Bailey, a real estate broker running against incumbent Betsy Holland for state House District 54, and Republican Fred Glass, a financial advisor vying for state Senate District 6 against Atlanta Board of Education member Jason Esteves, are losing by double-digits to their Democratic opponents.
Bailey and Glass support Buckhead cityhood and are both endorsed as “pro Buckhead City candidates” by the Buckhead City Committee. Holland and Esteves support keeping Buckhead as part of Atlanta.
“Support of Buckhead cityhood is unpopular and candidates who back the controversial proposal do so at their own peril,” said Chris Huttman of 20/20 Insight LLC in a public memo and who conducted the poll for the Committee for United Atlanta and Neighbors for a United Atlanta.
“To be competitive in these districts, Republican candidates should ditch support for Buckhead City and start addressing the actual issues that matter most to local voters,” Huttman said. Those polled said “threats to democracy” and “cost of living and inflation” were their top two concerns, Huttman said.
In SD 6 and HD 54, support for a Buckhead City is “dragging down” Bailey and Glass, the pro-cityhood Republican candidates, in each race, Huttman said. Voters are less likely to support a candidate who favors creating the new city by 44% to 24% in SD 6, and 42% to 31% less likely in HD 54, he said. Both districts cover much of Buckhead while HD 54 also includes a portion of Sandy Springs.
The polls were conducted Sep 6 through 12. The SD 6 poll had 773 respondents with a +/- 3.5% margin of error. House District 54 poll had 381 respondents with a +/- 5.0% margin of error, according to Huttman. The demographic data can be found here at these links:
Huttman said when those polled were asked if they side with those who want to “create a new Buckhead City and leave Atlanta, or those who want to keep Atlanta whole,” Bailey and Glass lose with Whites, Blacks, every age group, across genders, college educated and non-college voters.
“To be competitive in these districts, Republican candidates should ditch support for Buckhead City and start addressing the actual issues that matter most to local voters,” Huttman said.
Glass said in a written statement that Huttman’s data isn’t meaningful because it “failed to ask if people wanted to be able to vote on their form of government.”
“I believe people deserve to vote for the government that best serves their families,” he said.
Glass also alleged the Committee for United Atlanta and Neighbors for a United Atlanta support Esteves and are trying to use Buckhead cityhood as a “wedge issue” in the race.
“The voters will see this for what it is — a cynical attempt to change the subject,” Glass said.
A spokesperson for the Committee for United Atlanta and Neighbors for a United Atlanta said the groups are nonpartisan.
In an interview, Esteves said he typically takes polls with a “grain of salt.”
“But the polls suggest what I’m hearing on the ground, which is that people are tired of the divisiveness,” Esteves said. “They are tired of attempts to divide, whether it’s neighborhoods or communities or just people, and they’re looking for solutions that unite folks.”
Esteves said while Glass sees Buckhead cityhood is a “wedge issue,” his Buckhead City Committee endorsement and campaign materials place the issue at the top of his priorities if elected, Esteves said.
“The Buckhead City Committee is is making this an issue in this election,” Esteves said. “I think it’s important for people to know that if they’re voting for Mr. Glass, they are essentially voting for Buckhead City.”
Holland said in an interview she was not surprised to find the poll shows that support for cityhood is waning.
“Obviously I’m out a lot right now with community groups and neighborhood meetings and meet and greets and cityhood is just not coming up as a topic of conversation,” Holland said.
People are concerned about rents going up, about fallout from the Roe decision being overturned, and parents’ are worried about gun violence and safety of their children in schools, she said. She said she is also hearing a lot of concerns about teacher shortages and the closing of Atlanta Medical Center.
“I’m just not hearing people talk about cityhood the way they were, say a year ago,” Holland said.
“This tells me people have been educated about what some of the downsides are to the idea of de-annexing out of the city of Atlanta and also that maybe some of the concerns were driving cityhood are being addressed,” she said. “I’m pleased to see that people are moving on and looking for other solutions to our problems.”
Bailey said 20/20 Insight LLC is a “well-known Democratic polling firm” that wants to spin data to support Holland.
“This survey gauges support for ‘leaving Atlanta’ or ‘making Atlanta whole’ ….” Bailey said in a written statement.
“This survey did not ask if people should have a right to vote for their own destiny and their own form of government,” Bailey said. “I know that when I meet voters, they want to settle this question with a public vote one way or another — which is what I intend to give them when elected.”
The Buckhead City Committee’s controversial CEO Bill White is holding a fundraiser for Bailey and Glass on Oct. 4.
White also said the poll data does not gauge support for a public vote “to settle the question over Buckhead City.”
“Atlanta and its coordinated opposition group are deflecting from the failures of the Atlanta government and trying to confuse voters,” White said in a written statement. “It will not work.”
He said 80.6% of Georgia voters who pulled a Republican ballot in the May 24 primary “supported Buckhead City specifically being on the ballot next year.” The question was added to the Republican ballot after efforts to get a Buckhead cityhood referendum on the November 2022 ballot was blocked by Republican leaders.
Crime is the No. 1 one issue in the midterm elections, according to the Washington Times this week, White said. The Washington Times is a conservative newspaper published in Washington, D.C.
“We look forward to voting on Buckhead cityhood next year,” White said.
Billy Linville, spokesperson for Committee for a United Atlanta, said numerous polls have shown that “Buckhead residents want to keep the city of Atlanta united” and that crime is down.
“Like we have in the past, it is far more effective to deal with challenges when we come together, rather than breaking apart,” he said. “Crime in Buckhead is down 11%. Progress is being made every day and Mayor Andre Dickens is moving the city in the right direction.”
This story has been updated with comments from state Senate District 6 candidate Jason Esteves, state Rep. Betsy Holland, Buckhead City Committee CEO Bill White and Billy Linville, spokesperson for Neighbors for a United Atlanta.
