Kasim Reed Files to Campaign for Comeback as Atlanta Mayor

ATLANTA (AP) — Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed filed paperwork Wednesday to run again for his old job just four years after leaving City Hall.
A document Reed’s campaign team filed with the Georgia ethics commission opens the door for Reed to start accepting political contributions for the 2021 race. He jumped in one month after current Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced she won’t seek reelection to a second term.
The president of the Atlanta City Council, Felicia Moore, also is running, having announced her candidacy before Bottoms left the race. Two other council members, Antonio Brown and Andre Dickens, also launched campaigns.
Some political observers had expected Reed to seek a comeback. He was elected mayor in 2009 at age 40 after serving in the Georgia legislature. He spent two terms in the mayor’s office, leaving at the end of 2017 as his administration was dogged by a federal investigation into city contracts and finances.
The FBI began investigating corruption associated with Atlanta City Hall in 2015 and has charged a half-dozen members of Reed’s administration, including his chief financial officer. In an interview last month with WSB-TV, Reed said he is cleared because “the Justice Department under William Barr looked into every aspect of my life for more than three years and took no action.” The charges, he said, were related to the “individual behavior” of certain people in his administration.
Reed also apologized for the corruption investigation.
“Anything on my watch, I take responsibility for,” Reed told the Atlanta TV station. “I’m sorry I didn’t see it faster, and certainly after what I’ve been through personally, but more importantly what our city was taken through, I would do everything in my power to make sure it didn’t happen again.”
Reed’s campaign paperwork comes as the former mayor plans to celebrate his 52nd birthday with a fundraising party Thursday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported it obtained an invitation that spelled out donor levels from $25,000 for hosts and $1,000 for guests.
Bottoms is the first Atlanta mayor since World War II to decide against seeking a second term. Her political profile rose in 2020 when she was among the women President Joe Biden considered as a potential running mate.
In The News
Health
Voting
Cities
WASHINGTON — Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who has represented the Lone Star State’s 18th Congressional District since 1995, is... Read More
WASHINGTON — Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, who has represented the Lone Star State’s 18th Congressional District since 1995, is running for mayor of Houston. Jackson Lee, who is entering a crowded field of candidates vying to replace incumbent Mayor Sylvester Turner, who is term-limited, made... Read More
WASHINGTON — In yet another sign that the COVID crisis is largely over, DC Health announced Friday that it will... Read More
WASHINGTON — In yet another sign that the COVID crisis is largely over, DC Health announced Friday that it will be closing the COVID Centers it opened around the city during the pandemic on Friday, March 31. The decision to close the COVID Centers came after... Read More
WASHINGTON — The nation’s capital is the seventh worst place to get a good night's sleep in the United States,... Read More
WASHINGTON — The nation’s capital is the seventh worst place to get a good night's sleep in the United States, but it's far ahead of other East Coast cities, including Boston, New York, Miami and Philadelphia, according to a new study by U.S. News and World... Read More
WASHINGTON — Like many things in Washington, it all depends on how you look at it. When it comes to... Read More
WASHINGTON — Like many things in Washington, it all depends on how you look at it. When it comes to bed bugs, things have slightly improved in the District of Columbia since the height of the pandemic, when the pest control firm Orkin ranked it No.... Read More
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams outlined his vision for a new “New York City Women’s Health... Read More
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams outlined his vision for a new “New York City Women’s Health Agenda” Tuesday aimed at ending what he called “decades of systemic inequity” that has negatively impacted women across the city’s five boroughs. “For too long health... Read More
NEW YORK — More than 7,000 nurses at Mount Sinai Medical Center and Montefiore Medical Center walked off the job... Read More
NEW YORK — More than 7,000 nurses at Mount Sinai Medical Center and Montefiore Medical Center walked off the job this morning after talks to avert a strike fell apart overnight. The nurses are seeking better wages and working conditions. “Despite Montefiore’s offer of a 19.1%... Read More