A municipal election in the

City of Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, Atlan ...

was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. Atlanta is the capital of the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and is the largest city in Georgia and is the center of the

Atlanta metropolitan area Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...

, the

largest metropolitan area The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metrop ...

in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. Voters filled the offices of mayor of Atlanta, members of the

Atlanta City Council The Atlanta City Council (formerly the Atlanta Board of Aldermen until 1974) is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It consists of 16 members: the council president, twelve members elected from di ...

and members of the Atlanta Board of Education, for terms commencing January 2010 and ending January 2014. Voters also voted in

retention election A retention election or retention referendum is a referendum where voters are asked if an office holder, usually a judge, should be allowed to continue in that office. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes are cast against rete ...

s on a number of Municipal Court judges. The election was

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

, meaning that

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

affiliations did not appear on the ballot.

Mayor

The mayor is the city's

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and head of the

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

, which carries out the laws that have been instituted by the council. The mayor is responsible for the day-to-day operations of city government. Incumbent mayor

Shirley Franklin Shirley Clarke Franklin (born May 10, 1945) is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party who served as the 56th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 2002 to 2010. She currently serves as a member on the board of directors for both Delt ...

was prevented by

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

s from running for another term in 2009. The four leading mayoral candidates, based on standing in polls, took part in a final debate sponsored by the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'' and

WSB-TV WSB-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Cox Media Group, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to rad ...

were City Council President

Lisa Borders Lisa Michelle Borders (born November 25, 1957) is the former president and chief executive officer of Time's Up and former president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Early life and education Lisa Borders was born on Nov ...

, City Councilwoman Mary Norwood,

state Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Kasim Reed Mohammed Kasim Reed (born June 10, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th List of mayors of Atlanta, mayor of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia's state capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), ...

, and attorney Jesse Spikes. Minor candidates included Peter Brownlowe, Kyle Keyser, and write-in candidates. Previously on October 14, 2009, Emory University sponsored a debate which included the six front running candidates. Mary Norwood received the most votes in the November election but did not win a majority. Therefore, she and Kasim Reed, who placed second, advanced to a runoff where Kasim Reed won the election.

Results

First round

Runoff

City Council members and President of the City Council

The city council has fifteen members. The council's role is to advise the mayor and pass

local ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. Hong Kong In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () ...

s. Twelve are elected in

single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

s by area, while three are elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

from one-third (four) of the 12 voting districts (referred to as "posts"). The President of the Council is elected from the city at-large and is the presiding officer of the Council, acting as chair of all Council meetings. The President of the Council votes on the Council only in case of a tie. The President of the Council appoints chairs and members of the various committees, subject to rejection by a majority of the council and also acts as acting mayor (exercising all powers and discharging all duties of the mayor) in case of a vacancy in that office or during the disability of the mayor. There were three candidates for Council President: Ceasar C. Mitchell, Clair McLeod Muller, and Dave Gregory Walker. Mitchell placed first in the November election, with 48.67% of the vote, but not a majority. Therefore, he and Muller, who placed second, advanced to a December runoff.

Board of education

The Atlanta Board of Education establishes and approves the policies that govern the

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson. The system has an active enrollment of 54,956 students, attending ...

. The board consists of nine members, representing six geographical districts and three "at-large" districts. One person is elected per district to represent the schools in a given district for a four-year term.

City of Atlanta Municipal Court Judges

The following current City of Atlanta Municipal Court Judges were on the November 3, 2009 ballots for either dismissal or retention: *Deborah S. Greene (Chief Judge) *Howard R. Johnson *Clinton E. Deveaux *Andrew A. Mickle *Barbara A. Harris *Catherine E. Malicki *Elaine L. Carlisle *Herman L. Sloan *Calvin S. Graves *Gary E. Jackson *Crystal A. Gaines All the judges were retained.

References

External links

City of Atlanta Election CentralLeague of Women Voters of DeKalb County's page on Atlanta ElectionsCity of Atlanta Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlanta Elections, 2009 2009 United States mayoral elections 2009 Georgia (U.S. state) elections

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2009 in Atlanta November 2009 in the United States