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At The Sunday Paper, Stephanie reports, writes, and edits news stories. She also writes a weekly column about Atlanta's City Hall, the Atlanta Police Department, and crime, as well as government in general. She has appeared on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," where she debated Pat Buchanan, Air America's "The Lionel Show," where she debated Nancy Skinner, and the Australian national radio show, "Dads on the Air." Her blogs and columns have been cited in numerous publications around the world. She is also the founder of the Jackalope Party, a political party for fiscally conservative, socially liberal Americans. She collects National Geographics from before the fall of the USSR and her favorite movie is the brilliant Hitchcock-like French film, "He loves me, he loves me not." She deeply loves too many books to name them all, but among her favorites are A.A. Long's "Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life," Baruch Spinoza's "The Ethics," Michael White's "Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer," James Connor's "Kepler's Witch," Simon Winchester's "The Professor and the Madman," Owen Gingerich's "The Book Nobody Read," Russell Shorto's "Descartes' Bones," D.T. Max's "The Family That Couldn't Sleep," and Matthew Stewart's "The Courtier and the Heretic." Email her at stephanieramage@sundaypaper.com.

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Wednesday, November 04, 2009, 12:55 AM
News, Opinion, Politics
By Stephanie Ramage

KASIM REED: "CHECK THE NUMBERS, BABY!"

Mary Norwood and Kasim Reed are headed to a run-off on Dec. 1, following tonight's Atlanta mayoral election in which Norwood pulled about 45 percent of the vote to Reed's 37 percent.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The final tally was 46 percent for Norwood and 36 percent for Reed.

In the early-reporting precincts from the northside, Norwood was polling higher and Reed lower, but as the southside vote counts came in, Norwood dropped two points and Reed gained about four.

Third place contender Lisa Borders got 14 percent of the vote, with Jesse Spikes pulling in the single digits.

Reed, in a speech that came late in the evening to a capacity crowd at the Hyatt Regency on Peachtree Street, took aim at the polls that have dogged him, putting him in third place until just a couple of weeks ago when he pulled ahead of Borders.

"Check the numbers, baby!" Reed shouted exuberantly. Some pundits were beginning to surmise that Norwood would take the office without a run-off, but Reed's stronger than expected numbers in Norwood's own northside backyard helped keep Norwood below the magic 51 mark.

In what may have been some clue as to what will become of the votes Borders and Spikes attracted, Reed said he wanted to offer his "profound gratitude" to Borders for "running a tremendous campaign" and to his "good friend" Jesse Spikes. If Reed manages to retain the 37 percent he got tonight--as of my last glance at the screen--and adds Borders' 14 to it, that will give him the 51 percent he needs to be mayor come Dec. 1.

Among those in attendance was former Atlanta Police Chief Eldrin Bell.

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Comments

46% to 36% was the final tally.

So close Norwood. It might have been ill advised to run a TV Add denouncing the Republican party a day before the conservatives have a record day across the country.

Whose idea was that? Wasn't yours I know but I bet every republican voter was chomping at the bit to vote for you but you kinda killed the great white hope with the whole screw the elephant speech.

I think this month is going to be an eternity for the Norwood campaign. If the runoffs were tomorrow I would expect it to be close but they are gonna need a campaign manager like Kasim Reed to go the distance and unfortunately he is the opponent.

Not only that he has made double digit gains in the polls in the last two weeks while Norwood was stalling out.

She's got nothing left in the tank. She can't stand on her record in the Council. She doesn't want to talk about the City's finances. How many times can she say, "We are gonna make plans and look at those plans and execute those plans."

What Plans?

Throw em out there so we can see em. I honestly don't think you have them.

Kasim has numbers for days. He predicted that if we had a 40% Turnout the election would go to a runoff.

Whaddaya know. 39% voter turnout and a runoff.

We need a numbers guy Atlanta. You know it, I know it.

Norwood has served this City for 8 Years and we should all thank her for that but she would get ripped to shreds in the Mayor's office. She Ain't ready for the wolves we are about to face next year with the General Assembly.