During the general election in 2021 — where both the mayor and all City Council seats were up for grabs — a little over 70,000 Atlantans cast ballots in each of the races to fill the three citywide positions on council.
That’s compared to the hundreds of thousands of city voters that made their way to the ballot box in 2020 to decide on the country’ president and key U.S. Senate and House races.
Candidates for the vacant citywide seat up for grabs this November find themselves in a unique position, where turnout for the down ballot race will likely see a significant jump in participation due to the highly-watched presidential contest between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
But that means council hopefuls need to tap into engaged presidential voters — even some who may usually skip down ballot races altogether.
“From a campaign perspective, you have got to be trying to talk to a lot more people,” Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman said, adding that candidates face the challenge of engaging with voters who aren’t familiar with City Council and encouraging Atlantans not to skip local contests.