State Sen. Kasim Reed Certified as Mayor-Elect of City of Atlanta, Opponent Mary Norwood to Ask for Recount

Kasim Reed has been certified as the mayor-elect of Atlanta, Ga., in a hotly contested mayoral race. The Fulton County Board of Elections has certified last Thursday's vote that chose state Sen. Reed over Mary Norwood as the city's next mayor. Ms. Norwood said she will formally ask on Monday for a recount of the ballots. 

Out of 84,383 votes cast, Reed received 715 votes more than Norwood, or 0.84 percent more. Under state law, a candidate who loses by less than one percent of the votes cast has the right to request a recount. If Reed’s numbers hold, he will succeed Mayor Shirley Franklin on January 4.

Mayor-elect Reed has already starting setting up his administration. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, he has picked Peter T. Aman, an Atlanta partner in the international business consulting firm Bain & Company, to be his chief operating officer. He will be Reed’s key adviser in setting policy and handling everything from cops to sewers.