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2017 A3C Festival - ChooseATL Welcome To Atlanta Reception Honoring Kevin "Coach K" Lee And Angela Rye

Source: Prince Williams / Getty

Former Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed just moved the needle to enter the city’s closely watched mayoral race after Keisha Lance Bottoms announced she would not seek reelection.

On Tuesday Reed filed official paperwork to enter the field of candidates which includes City Councilman Antonio Brown, Atlanta attorney Sharon Gay, and Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore.

“I felt like there are things happening in Atlanta that I’d never seen in my life, and I’ve been here all my life. So that’s what caused me to start talking about it,” Reed told WSBV-TV. in May.

“I do know how to fix crime, and I do know I could turn our crime environment around in 180 days, and I know that I’ve done it before,” he said.

With Tuesday’s filing, Reed will be allowed to launch a committee that will make way for campaign donations, just in time for his 52nd birthday party on Thursday, which is also doubling as a fundraiser where tickets are $1,000 for entry.

Reed, a two-term mayor who served in city hall from 2010-2018, exited city hall in a cloud of controversy after six members of his staff were indicted by federal investigators. The basis of the investigation began in 2015 but did not become public information until 2017. Investigators believe that one of Reed’s campaign staff conspired with the owners of a multi-million dollar construction company in a bribery scheme.

Reed also faced heat over his budgeting, which included large bonuses for his mayoral staff.

“Anything on my watch, I take responsibility for,” Reed continued. “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.”

Rumblings regarding the possibility of Reed’s emergence began in May when Bottoms shocked her supporters by declining another run for office. Bottoms is the first incumbent mayor since Maynard Jackson who chose to not seek reelection, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports. Reed becomes the first former mayor since Jackson to seek a third term in office.

On social media, reactions varied regarding Reed’s emergence into the political sphere.

It looks like all eyes will be on November…again.

SEE ALSO:

Who Will Be Atlanta’s Next Mayor? Keisha Lance Bottoms Knows ‘The People It Should Not Be’

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Nominated To Be Vice Chair Of DNC

Don’t Call It A Comeback? Kasim Reed Takes First Step To Run For Atlanta Mayor  was originally published on newsone.com