Mary Norwood (born 1952) is an American businesswoman and politician who is a member of the
Atlanta City Council
The Atlanta City Council is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It consists of 16 members primarily elected from 12 districts within the city. The Atlanta City Government is divided into three bo ...
. She was a candidate for mayor of Atlanta in
2009 and
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
. In both campaigns she advanced to the runoff, but respectively lost to
Kasim Reed
Mohammed Kasim Reed (born June 10, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia's state capital and largest city, from 2010 to 2018.
A Democrat, Reed was a member of the Georgia House of Represe ...
and
Keisha Lance Bottoms by narrow margins. In addition to her mayoral runs, she represented city-wide posts on the Atlanta City Council from 2002 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018.
She resides in the
Tuxedo Park neighborhood of Atlanta's
Buckhead
Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downto ...
community.
2009 Atlanta mayoral election
Mary Norwood has been involved in the Atlanta area for the past 30 years, beginning as a community activist. In 2009, she ran for
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of the City of Atlanta, but eventually lost to
Kasim Reed
Mohammed Kasim Reed (born June 10, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia's state capital and largest city, from 2010 to 2018.
A Democrat, Reed was a member of the Georgia House of Represe ...
in a runoff election.
Norwood received 46 percent of the vote on Election Day, the largest proportion of all the candidates, but as no candidate received a majority (more than 50% of the vote), she entered a runoff election on December 1, 2009.
However,
Kasim Reed
Mohammed Kasim Reed (born June 10, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia's state capital and largest city, from 2010 to 2018.
A Democrat, Reed was a member of the Georgia House of Represe ...
received more votes in the runoff, and, after a recount, Norwood conceded.
According to an investigation by the staff of the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', campaign records show that the Georgia Democratic Party spent at least $165,000 to attack Norwood. This, along with an eight percent jump in voters for the runoff contributed to Reed winning the mayoral runoff election by about 700 votes out of approximately 84,000 votes total.
Norwood campaigned on a platform of fiscal responsibility, and in a political advertisement she asserted that the city of Atlanta had misplaced $100 million. However, the city administration disputed the claim, explaining that $116 million was borrowed from the Watershed Management Department for city projects, and the money is being repaid by those departments.
Taxes
Norwood voted against the tax increase proposal in June 2008, which did not pass. The City of Atlanta then responded by reducing public safety personnel and imposed a 10 percent pay cut on city workers to balance the budget.
In both instances, Norwood asked the City to reduce its spending on areas other than public safety personnel.
The City of Atlanta’s budget was said to be balanced for several years.
However, by March 2009, Atlanta’s bond rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, a key
credit rating agency
A credit rating agency (CRA, also called a ratings service) is a company that assigns credit ratings, which rate a debtor's ability to pay back debt by making timely principal and interest payments and the likelihood of Default (finance), default ...
. This downgrade resulted from four years of operating deficits, as well as longer-term pressures associated with the Atlanta’s underfunded pensions, police overtime, and subsidies to several funds.
Atlanta’s solid waste and capital finance funds were also downgraded.
In June 2009, the City Council voted 8-7, to increase the Atlanta property tax rate for general operations from 7.12 mills to 10.12 mills, a 42 percent increase. Atlanta is one of the few big cities nationwide to raise property taxes that year.
[ ] Mary Norwood voted against this increase, insisting that there was money to be found within Atlanta’s budget.
2017 Atlanta mayoral election
Norwood filed to run in the
2017 Atlanta mayoral election
The 2017 Atlanta mayoral election occurred on November 7, 2017, with a runoff election held on December 5, 2017. Incumbent mayor Kasim Reed, a member of the Democratic Party who had been in office since 2010, was ineligible to run for reelecti ...
in October 2016. Similar to the 2009 race, she has called for increased transparency in the municipal government, along with various additions to Atlanta's public transportation systems. According to the Norwood campaign website, her campaign is focused broadly on four issues: safety, transparency, sustainability, and prosperity. Norwood was initially considered the frontrunner in the race due to her strong performance in the 2009 runoff and her history of being elected city-wide.
The race attracted significant attention due to Norwood's status as an
independent politician
An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views th ...
and the fact that, if elected, she would have been the first white mayor of Atlanta since
Sam Massell
Samuel A. Massell Jr. (August 26, 1927 – March 13, 2022) was an American businessman and politician who served from 1970 to 1974 as the 53rd mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. He was the first Jewish mayor in the city's history and the most recent no ...
in 1974. Several of Norwood's opponents and the
Georgia Democratic Party
The Democratic Party of Georgia is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is one of the two major political parties in the state and is chaired by Nikema Williams.
President Jimmy Carter was a Georgia Democrat. Sin ...
attempted to portray her as a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
.
In the first round of voting held November 7, Norwood came in second place with 20,144 votes. She advanced to a runoff with city councilor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who was endorsed by mayor Kasim Reed. Norwood and Bottoms participated in multiple debates and forums during the runoff campaign, and Norwood was endorsed by former candidates
Cathy Woolard
Cathy Woolard (born May 10, 1957) is an American politician who served as a member of the Atlanta City Council for District 6 from November 1998 to 2002, and as President of the Council from 2002 to 2004. When she began her term in 1997, she was ...
and
Ceasar Mitchell
Ceasar C. Mitchell (born 1968), is an American politician and attorney who served as President of Atlanta City Council from 2010 to 2018. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2017 Atlanta mayoral election.
Early life and education
Mitchell is ...
and former Mayor
Shirley Franklin
Shirley Clarke Franklin (born May 10, 1945) is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party who served as the 58th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 2002 to 2010. She currently serves as a member on the board of directors for both Delt ...
. During the runoff campaign, Bottoms made an issue of Norwood's use of the word "thug" in comments she made before a
Young Republicans
The Young Republican National Federation, commonly referred to as the Young Republicans or YRNF, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization ...
meeting in 2009.
Norwood lost to Keisha Lance Bottoms by 759 votes in the runoff on December 5. As in 2009, Norwood initially asked for a recount and refused to concede on election night. A recount later took place on December 14, but failed to give Norwood the edge. She eventually decided to not further contest the election results and conceded the race on December 21.
Support for 2020 Election Lawsuit
Norwood signed an affidavit, notarized on November 29, 2020, that was included "in a lawsuit intended to invalidate Georgia's 16 electoral college votes" for then President-Elect Joe Biden.
Education
Mary Norwood attended
Sweet Briar College, is a graduate of
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
, and has been an Atlanta resident for 35 years. Her husband, Dr. Felton Norwood, was a pediatrician at
Piedmont Hospital
Piedmont Atlanta Hospital is a 643 bed, non-profit hospital located at 1968 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, Georgia.
History
Piedmont was established in 1905 as the Piedmont Sanitarium, the successor to Amster's private sanitorium, in the former mansi ...
for more than 30 years. She was born in
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...
.
References
External links
Campaign websiteCity of Atlanta OnlineMary Norwood on FacebookMary Norwood on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwood, Mary
1952 births
Atlanta City Council members
Living people
Georgia (U.S. state) Independents
Politicians from Augusta, Georgia
Women city councillors in Georgia (U.S. state)