Atlanta mayoral candidates make final push before runoff

ATLANTA - With just hours until the polls open, both Felicia Moore and Andre Dickens did their best to secure some final votes in the runoff to be Atlanta's 61st mayor. The two candidates spent the weekend and Monday campaigning as the race to be Atlanta's next mayor heads into the final days.

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"I went to working in City Hall for a council member. That's when I saw what worked and what didn't work at City Hall," Moore told a group of people gathered at Atlanta Fish Market on Monday.

Moore has served on the Atlanta City Council since 1997 and was elected as City Council President in 2018.

Dickens has been a member of the city council since 2013.

"I'm feeling excited. I'm energized and anticipating a good result tomorrow," said Dickens. "The fatigue that you feel from running all across the city every single next step, every single next engagement I get re-energized again. So, I'm excited."

Monday afternoon Dickens visited with residents at The Remington, an independent senior living facility on Atlanta's Westside.

One of the biggest topics on the campaign trail has been how the candidates plan to tackle the recent uptick in crime in the city.

"We've got to deal with that crime and I have five areas I believe that we can do that," said Moore.

Those include tackling generational poverty to keep children from committing crimes, improving police officer morale, and addressing the issue of repeat offenders.

"It's dealing with the court system, which is really where the big issue is," said Moore. "Making sure repeat and violent offenders aren't let out on our streets and the city providing things that we can do to help them not have to get back into a life of crime."

Moore said she also wants to involve the entire community in efforts to reduce crime.

"I'm actually like the outsider that's on the inside ... sometimes fighting the established order of things," Moore said.

"My safe streets plan is a balanced approach to safety and justice. we don't just need cops with badges and guns trying to solve all of our problems. we must have the community's hands on the table," Dickens said at a campaign stop.

Dickens released what he calls his "Safe Streets Plan," which he said includes community policing, where officers patrol neighborhoods on foot and communicate with the people who live and work there. 

"What I want to do is make sure that this level of crime is not the new normal," Dickens said. "It's about being smart on crime. We're going to surge to hire 250 more officers right away in the first year, but we're also going to make sure they're trained in conflict resolution and be able to deescalate issues."

The two candidates spent Sunday afternoon canvassing neighborhoods to get out as many voters as possible come Tuesday.

The race for mayor brought out only about 30% of registered voters earlier in November.

The final fight for votes has also led to tense moments between Moore and Dickens.

Most recently, Dickens claimed that supporters of Moore intentionally darkened an image of him in a campaign ad.

Moore denounced the claim last Friday.

"We are here to tell him and his surrogates who have been shopping this story ... shame on you," she said.

Speaking to FOX 5, Dickens said he wants to continue focusing on the issues.

"I am inclusive and I think about everyone in the community. When she’s talking about divisiveness … This is a tactic she’s been using for far too long and it’s catching up with her. This is why the people are choosing me as their candidate of choice," he said.

The two have also sparred over each other's voting records at City Hall.

The polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 8 p.m.

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