Campaign Insider: How Andre Dickens Beat the Odds to Become Atlanta’s Mayor

Published in James Magazine, Jan.-Feb. 2022 

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens took office in January after a hard-fought campaign to lead Georgia’s capital city.

We’re paying close attention to the issues that the new mayor prioritizes, but also want to unpack how he made the leap from the back of the pack to the first mayor to win a convincing mandate in 30 years. To help us understand more we interviewed Howard Franklin, a top advisor to the campaign and lobbyist underneath the Capitol Gold Dome.

JAMES How did the campaign strategize about the general election vs. the runoff?

HOWARD FRANKLIN We always knew Andre would become the consensus candidate in a runoff election. His hometown cred, record of successful collaborations and message of uniting the city were unmatched — even in a crowded field. But we also knew that making it into the runoff would be our toughest challenge, because the abbreviated race left us very little time to raise Andre’s name recognition or build an effective war chest. But we also knew that the race would completely reset if we made it past November 2nd, and that strategy paid off on election night in the form of a 2-to-1 victory.

JAMES How specifically was Dickens able to overcome better known candidates?

FRANKLIN We were careful not to confuse name recognition with favorability. Our early internal polls showed that voters knew our opponents much better than they knew Councilman Dickens, but that they were reluctant to support them, confirming that we had a small window. Then polls told us that people really liked him once they learned even a little about him. Unlike a lot of campaigns, the Dickens “base” was too diverse to limit to a single geography, age or racial demographic. Both financially and logistically, it’s harder to run a campaign without a geographic focus. We knew we had to tightly control the finances (hats off to Candice Franklin and Kendra-Sue Derby) and resist the urge to make early expenditures while most voters weren’t focused on our race. Ultimately, we spent upwards of 70 percent of the general election budget on direct voter contact.

JAMES Rising violent crime remains a huge issue in Atlanta. How did it factor into the race?

FRANKLIN While many candidates were fixated on public safety, we approached that issue from the Councilman’s natural strengths and accomplishments, like creating Atlanta’s police cadet housing program and voting to give the city’s officers the largest pay raise in history. That helped us stand out from the crowded field, and ultimately win an impressive mandate that the mayor will need to govern effectively over the next four years.

JAMES What is something most people don’t know about the race?

FRANKLIN Andre advanced to the runoff without winning a single Council district— although he earned several strong second and third place finishes across the city. I don’t think any Atlanta mayor has made a runoff without winning a single district! Where some saw that as a weakness and counted us out, we worked to turn Andre’s broad support into a victory with votes that had previously gone to the 13 other candidates, including our runoff opponent. Another fun fact: For our seven-month race, we didn’t hire the campaign manager until there were only two months left in the race. I like to joke about being an executive on-loan to the campaign, but that’s just how tight the money was from start to finish.

JAMES How will Mayor Dickens build a relationship with the General Assembly?

FRANKLIN Councilman Dickens has been active on state level policy for eight years, working with state lawmakers to create the Atlanta Department of Transportation and to win approval for the Inclusionary Zoning policy along the Atlanta BeltLine. During the campaign, he reached out to dozens of statehouse leaders in both parties before even making the runoff election. Since then, he expanded that charm offensive by attending events across the city and continued to share his plans to make Atlanta a safer, stronger and more prosperous city in partnership with the General Assembly.

Everywhere he has gone, people have complimented his grasp of complex issues, willingness to engage and the sheer amount of good energy he’s radiating as he assumes the role of mayor. With that combination, I have no doubt that he will be successful.