ATLANTA, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A black woman who had the support of former Atlanta mayors Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young led a field of candidates in Tuesday's voting to succeed two-term Mayor Bill Campbell.
Shirley Franklin had a substantial lead over City Council President Robb Pitts based on incomplete returns, but it was not immediately clear if she would have the 50 percent plus one vote needed to escape a Nov. 27 runoff election and become the city's first woman mayor.
Franklin, who enlisted poet Maya Angelou and actress Cicely Tyson to campaign for her, prominently portrayed herself as the "Democrat" and Pitts as the "Republican" in the nonpartisan race. She raised $3.1 million for her campaign and greatly outspent her opponents.
Almost two-thirds of Atlanta's voters are black and the top three vote-getters in Tuesday's mayoral election were black.
