By Maria Saporta
Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore has filed the legal paperwork to set up a run for mayor.
On Jan. 20, Moore filed a “Declaration of intention to accept campaign contributions” with the State Ethics Commission for a mayoral run in 2021. She is the first serious candidate to signal that she could run against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who has not yet officially declared that she is running for re-election.
“I’m not ready to make any statement on that right now,” Moore said when reached on her cell phone Saturday night. “Stay tuned.”
Moore won the citywide election for Council President in 2017, decisively beating fellow council member Alex Wan in a runoff with nearly 55 percent of the vote.
Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed often lashed out at Moore, who was one of the few councilmembers willing to question the administration on its proposals. Reed endorsed Bottoms in 2017. It was speculated Reed was working behind the scenes for Wan.
City Council Presidents have not been that successful in becoming mayor. For example, former City Council President Ceasar Mitchell was not successful in his run for mayor. One of his predecessors – Lisa Borders – also was unsuccessful in her mayoral run.
Bottoms, who is facing headwinds with Atlanta’s recent uptick in crime, could end up with several candidates running for mayor.
It had been widely speculated that Bottoms would get a position in President Joe Biden’s administration. If she had been offered and accepted a position in Washington, D.C., then Moore would have become Atlanta’s mayor until the November election.
