After a heated campaign, unofficial results show longtime Atlanta City Councilmember Marci Collier Overstreet will be the next city council president.
She narrowly beat out nonprofit leader Rohit Malhotra for the second-in-command seat on Nov. 4. Overstreet will take over for Doug Shipman, who was elected in 2021 but decided not to run for reelection.
It doubles down on the existing political landscape. Overstreet spent eight years as the District 11 City Councilmember, and she ran as a “proven” candidate with experience in local politics.
City Council President is a city-wide, four-year seat. Overstreet will break ties on city council votes, pick committee chairs and will step in if something happens to the mayor. It may seem simple on paper, but the seat is an unofficial leadership role for the council and city beyond.
The race was a highlight of the already packed election season as Malhotra and Overstreet duked it out in the public square. An “insider” and “outsider” battle turned into accusations of xenophobia, claims of public safety threats and complaints of conservative affiliations.
Overstreet is a proud “establishment” candidate on the inside. She touted early campaign support from Mayor Andre Dickens and several other elected officials. In August, Overstreet told SaportaReport the mayor supports her “one hundred percent.” But she also bristled at the idea that she would be a “nod squad” for the mayor.
“I’m an independent person,” Overstreet said. As council president, she would take on an unofficial role to mitigate differences between the council and the executive branch.
As for her own vision for Atlanta City Council President? Overstreet laid out plans for collaboration in an August interview.
“There’s an atmosphere that a president can create on the council,” Overstreet told SaportaReport. “I think more can be done with the position, I would like to be a president that really brings collaboration and consensus to council.”
More of the same. Not listening to the people. Voted for Cop City. Not a fan.
I do fear we’ve chosen another proxy for the Dickens Administration and politics-as-usual “the Atlanta Way.” That’s just what to expect from a proud “insider.”
Hopefully MCO seizes this opportunity to show independent thoughts and real leadership for the Council, but especially the kind of humility that earns a positive legacy in public service.
Sadly, I don’t feel represented at city hall. Michael Julian Bond, the mayor and others have disappointed me more than once by being unresponsive or promising one thing and doing another. The elevation of Marci Collier Overstreet seems to promise more of the same. My time in neighborhood leadership is waning, but adding these results to the redistricting to split my neighborhood between three council districts does not bode well for our future.