Just 759 votes separated the candidates early Wednesday morning, Norwood told supporters.
Never, ever think your vote doesn’t matter. Because it does.
Here are the actual results for anyone interested. Bottoms will likely win.
It’s unusual for a recount to disproportionally add that many vote to a candidate’s total. If one side tends to attract sloppier voters than the other (voters who aren’t precise enough in how they fill out ballots) or there are active attempts to suppress one side more than the other (creating a disproportionate number of provisional ballots on one side) then a recount might add 1-2 vote per thousand cast to that side.
Adding a net of 759 to one candidate in an election where less than 100,000 votes were cast isn’t going to happen.
Why are we looking at this race from a racial perspective? It doesn’t sound like either candidate made race an issue, why should TPM?
Bottoms defintiely made race an issue, attacking Norwood repeatedly for comments that she twisted / interpreted as racially insensitive. Even though the African -American former mayor Shirley Franklin and African-American outgoing council president and mayoral rival endorsed Norwood, opposing the Reed machine’s questionable deals and decrying the million-dollar contractor bribe that is still being investigated by the FBI, the machine was able to use race to win. Robocalls from Maxine Waters on election day claiming that Norwood would let Trump’s nose under the tent were not exactly subtle. (Norwood said she voted for Hillary and Obama, btw.)
Norwood is not a republican in any sense of the word. My politics is way left and I supported Norwood. Reed is arrogant and bombastic and when he was elected that was a trait the city needed. Now, we needed someone who has people skills because a lot is going to depend on working with the state. Bottoms has several questionable dealings. Norwood as the piece says…walks the walk. She was out front on gay rights when it wasnt popular for either side. She has battled corruption, and gentrification that displaces people. Her actions have always been along the lines of a progressive. It was just sad to see them try to paint her as something other than what she is. FYI, she lost to Reed 8 years ago by around 760 votes. That must be heart breaking for her
“I am just in awe of what God is able to do.”
