Voters to elect Atlanta mayor, decide 4 legislative races

ATLANTA (AP) - Voters in Atlanta on Tuesday are deciding an election that will send a new mayor into office.

Regardless of who wins, Atlanta will be led by a female mayor for the first time since 2010 when former mayor Shirley Franklin left office. Franklin served two terms as mayor after winning the office in 2001.

Runoffs for a handful of vacant seats in the Georgia legislature will also be decided Tuesday.

Here’s a look at Tuesday’s contests:

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ATLANTA MAYOR

In Tuesday’s election, Keisha Lance Bottoms faces Mary Norwood. The two city councilwomen advanced to the runoff after Bottoms finished first and Norwood finished second in the Nov. 7 general election.

Aside from returning to a female mayor, Atlanta voters could usher in another change if Norwood wins. If that happens, it will be the first time in the past 44 years that Atlanta is led by a white mayor.

Atlanta’s last white mayor, Sam Massell, left office in 1974 and was succeeded by five African-American mayors during the next four decades: Maynard Jackson; Andrew Young; Bill Campbell, Franklin and current Mayor Kasim Reed.

Reed has endorsed Bottoms; Franklin has endorsed Norwood.

Norwood also picked up a key endorsement Wednesday from former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard, who finished third in the Nov. 7 election with 14 percent of the vote.

Bottoms amassed nearly 28 percent of the vote on Nov. 7 and Norwood got nearly 22 percent. Polls have shown a tight race.

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GEORGIA SENATE

Runoffs are being held Tuesday for state Senate seats left vacant when their occupants left the statehouse to run for other political offices.

In Senate District 6 in metro Atlanta, Democrats Jen Jordan and Jaha Howard are vying for the seat left open when Republican Hunter Hill left the chamber to run for Georgia governor.

In Senate District 39, voters are deciding between Atlanta Democrats Nikema Williams and Linda Pritchett. They’re competing for the seat left open by Democrat Vincent Fort, who stepped down to run for Atlanta mayor.

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GEORGIA HOUSE

In House District 60, metro Atlanta Democrats Kim Schofield and De’Andre Pickett are vying for a vacant seat that includes parts of Fulton and Clayton counties. Democratic Rep. Keisha Waites had resigned from that seat in September to run for chairman of the Fulton County Commission.

In DeKalb County, two Democrats are in a runoff for the House District 89 seat left vacant by state Rep. Stacey Abrams, an Atlanta Democrat who is leaving the legislature to run for governor. Voters in that race are deciding between Bee Nguyen and Sachin Varghese.