Andre Dickens is the new mayor of Atlanta

City Council member Andre Dickens was elected mayor of Atlanta on Tuesday, defeating Council Speaker Felicia A. Moore in a runoff election, the Washington Post reports.

Dickens will succeed Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who announced in May that she would not seek a second term.

As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the November 2 election, a special runoff was held. Moore, a Democrat, won 41 percent of the vote, and Dickens stunned political pundits by defeating former Mayor Kasim Reed (D).

In a speech to his passionate supporters, Dickens said he had been overlooked throughout his political career, but had “tried and fought” to share his message with potential voters.

“The believers relapsed and they thought this city needed a unifier,” Dickens said. “Someone who could bring this whole city together, and tonight, tonight, I am beyond honored that you chose me and elected me as the 61st mayor of this great city.”

Dickens promised he would tackle the city of Atlanta’s “generational problems,” including violent crime, income inequality and homelessness.

“I’ve said it before, my real opponents in this race have never been any of these 13 other candidates,” he added. “My opponent is homelessness, despair, unemployment, racism, poverty, violence. My adversary has existed for 50, 100, 2,000 years.

Bottoms supported Dickens, calling him a “charismatic, unifying leader” who could help the city recover from the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, he received the endorsement of Fulton County Prosecutor Fani T. Willis.

One of the main points of contention during the campaign was funding for the Atlanta Police Department. Moore recalled that Dickens was the only one of seven council members who voted in 2020 to temporarily cut police funding to shift resources to social service programs.

Dickens argued his vote was an attempt to prevent Atlanta police from having to respond to “non-emergency” calls, including mental health crises that he said should be handled by trained professionals. In response, he criticized Moore for not taking allegations of police misconduct more seriously.

In addition to serving on the city council, Dickens, a chemical engineer, currently works as a development director at a local nonprofit agency.

Although the challenges of Atlanta may be daunting, Dickens is eager to rise to the occasion.

“We are facing generational issues in our city,” he said. “Atlanta is experiencing population growth and growing wealth. Businesses are flocking to the city; yet we still have people living on our streets. We have people working at our airport just to pay last month’s rent. People are still fighting to stay in their homes in the city they love.