2nd opponent in Atlanta mayoral runoff remains in the air day after election

ATLANTA — The race for Atlanta’s next mayor will go into a runoff, but we’re still waiting to see who the second person in that race will be.

Former city council president Felicia Moore has 41% of the vote, but not all absentee ballots have been counted yet.

Andre Dickens and former Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed are separated by fewer than 600 votes, leaving that second runoff spot in question.

[REAL-TIME RESULTS: Georgia 2021 Election Results]

We still have to wait for the official results from Fulton and DeKalb counties, but Dickens gained momentum in the last three weeks and may have beat Reed.

“Today is an exciting day because last night was fantastic,” Dickens told Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston.

He said while everyone was talking about Felecia Moore and Kasim Reed, he walked the length of the city picking up votes along the way.

“For months, 40% of the public has been undecided. Well, they started making a decision over the last three weeks and it worked in my favor because they decided to choose me,” Dickens said.

“We’re headed to the runoff and I’m not looking backwards to yesterday,” Reed said during a speech Tuesday night.

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The former mayor didn’t concede but admitted the race was going to be tight.

Moore had nearly double the votes of the second and third place finishers.

“We’re going to make sure we keep that base and expand that base. So I’m reaching out to some of the other candidates who’ve gotten out of the race now, and we’re going to invite them to join our team,” Moore said.

There was also some surprising election news on Wednesday. Fulton County’s elections director Richard Barron announced he is leaving.

Huddleston obtained a copy of his resignation letter. He also texted Barron who told him after Tuesday’s successful election that it was a good time to go out on top.

The county chairman, Robb Pitts, said Barron was not asked to resign.

“It was a mutual consent agreement that, because his continued presence was a distraction, not from any wrongdoing on his part, but the naysayers who will continue to criticize Fulton County no matter what we do,” Pitts said.

Barron said he will stay on through the end of the year and it was time to do something else.

The results from Tuesday’s election should be certified at the beginning of next week.

RELATED NEWS:

Felicia Moore advances to runoff; Reed, Dickens neck-and-neck in Atlanta mayoral race Former Mayor Kasim Reed and City Councilman Andre Dickens remain neck-and-neck.

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