Shake-ups, New Contenders in Several Atlanta Council Races (UPDATE 1)
(APN) ATLANTA — As races for seats on the City Council of Atlanta continue to take shape, Atlanta Progressive News has learned that one candidate is switching races, while additional candidates have filed a notice of intent to challenge various incumbents.
Jon Jones, who previously had been in the District 2 race against Councilman Kwanza Hall, recently learned that, due to redistricting, his home no longer falls in District 2, but instead District 5.
Jones lives in a building on Ralph McGill Boulevard near the Civic Center. As Hall’s District 2 has picked up more of Midtown, District 5 has picked up more of downtown.
Jones is currently considering running either for the District 5 seat held by Natalyn Archibong, or the Post 2-at-large seat held by Aaron Watson, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.
This means that Kwanza Hall, who had previously had two challengers, is set to go unchallenged this November. Earlier, Todd Robinson, who had also announced his intent to challenge Hall, dropped out of the race.
Meanwhile, APN has learned of four new candidates entering various races.
First, Andre Dickens, a community outreach director at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has entered the race for the Post 3-at-large seat currently held by Councilman Lamar Willis.
As previously reported by APN, Shelitha Robertson, who challenged Willis and almost unseated him in 2009, is still running for that seat and has filed a notice of intent for 2013.
It appears that former State Rep. Ralph Long (D-Atlanta), who at one point was considering running for the Post 3-at-large seat [as well as the District 12 seat], is no longer planning to run.
Second, Duwon Robinson is running against Felicia Moore (District 9).
And third and fourth, Councilwoman Cleta Winslow (District 4) has picked up two new challengers: Sister DeBorah Williams, who ran against Winslow in 2009; and Shawn Deangelo Walton.
The updated list of announced challengers is as follows:
District 1 (Carla Smith): Robert Welsh
District 2 (Kwanza Hall): NONE
District 3 (Ivory Young): Rev. Darrion Fletcher, Patricia Crayton
District 4 (Cleta Winslow): Torey Lewis, Sister DeBorah Williams, and Shawn Deangelo Walton
District 5 (Natalyn Archibong): Matt Rinker
DIstrict 6 (Alex Wan): NONE
District 7 (Howard Shook): NONE
District 8 (Yolanda Adrean): NONE
District 9 (Felicia Moore): Duwon Robinson
District 10 (CT Martin): NONE
District 11 (Keisha Lance Bottoms): NONE
District 12 (Joyce Sheperd): NONE
Post 1-at-large (Michael Julian Bond): NONE
Post 2-at-large (Aaron Watson): Jon Jones (possibly)
Post 3-at-large (Lamar Willis): Andre Dickens, Shelitha Robertson
(END/2013)
UPDATE 1: Updated to include Patricia Crayton as a candidate for District 3.