On behalf of the local NBC affiliate, SurveyUSA is out with another poll of November's Atlanta non-partisan mayoral race. In the very likely event that no one takes a majority, there will be a December runoff:
City Councilor Mary Norwood: 27
City Council President Ceasar Mitchell: 10
City Councilor Keisha Lance Bottoms: 9
City Councilor Kwanza Hall: 9
State Sen. Vincent Fort: 8
Ex-Atlanta chief operating officer Peter Aman: 6
Ex-City Council President Cathy Woolard: 6
Fulton County Commission Chair John Eaves: 4
Back in March, local GOP pollsters Landmark Communications and Rosetta Stone found almost the exact same result: Norwood took first with 29 percent, while no one else broke 10 percent. Norwood, who identifies an independent in this very blue city, ran back in 2009 and took first place in the primary with 46 percent. However, then-state Sen. Kasim Reed surged from 36 percent to defeat Norwood by about 700 votes in December.
Of course, it's still early, and some of the lesser-known contenders will have the resources to get their names out before November. At the end of the last fundraising quarter, Aman, who has done some self-funding, had an $800,000 war chest, larger than anyone else's. Norwood edged out Mitchell $653,000 to $529,000 for second. Hall, Woolard, and Bottoms each had a bit less than $400,000 to spend. Fort, a longtime Reed opponent who has Bernie Sander's support, had $231,000 on-hand, while Sterling had $77,000. Eaves brought up the rear with just $55,000.
Racial politics might also play a role in how this contest turns out: Fort, Eaves, Hall, Mitchell, Bottoms, and Sterling are African Americans, while Norwood, Woolard, or Aman would be the city's first white mayor since the mid-1970s. Woolard would also be Atlanta's first openly-gay mayor.