Atlanta mayoral election, 1973

The 1973 Atlanta mayoral election was held on November 6, 1973 in Atlanta, Georgia. Vice Mayor Maynard Jackson was elected as the city's first African-American mayor, defeating incumbent Mayor Sam Massell.

In the primary election that preceded the general election, Jackson finished first with 46.4 percent of the vote. Massell finished second with 19.9 percent, followed closely by former United States Representative Charles Weltner with 19.1 percent. Former State of Georgia Department of Industry and Trade Deputy Commissioner Harold A. Dye finished with 8.4 percent and State Senator Leroy Johnson finished with 3.9 percent. Other candidates were former Atlanta Police Officer John Chambers, Socialist Workers Party activist Debby Bustin, Hare Krishna community leader William Ogle, attorney John Genins, Betty Morrison, Ernest Moschella and write-in candidate Howard Tucker. Jackson then defeated incumbent Mayor Sam Massell in a runoff election.

In the same election, Atlanta voters elected Alderman Wyche Fowler as President of the Atlanta City Council. Fowler defeated Reverend Hosea Williams in a runoff election. In the primary election, Fowler and Williams finished first and second, respectively, followed by former Alderman Wade Mitchell and Rector Robert B. Hunter.

The 1973 election saw a rise in the influence of African-American politicians in Atlanta. Five new black City Council members were added to create a 9-9 split, while two black women were elected to the Atlanta Board of Education for a 5-4 black majority.

Sam Massell was elected mayor of Atlanta in 1970. The first Jewish mayor of Atlanta, he had gained the support of Leroy Johnson of the Atlanta Negro Voter's League, helping Massell win 90 percent of Atlanta's black vote. Massell was the first Atlanta mayor to receive more votes from black voters than white voters. Shortly after his election, Massell clashed with his vice mayor Maynard Jackson when Jackson tried to handle negotiations during a strike by Atlanta sanitation employees. Jackson was fond of speaking to the local media about racial inequalities within Atlanta's government, but Massell complained that Jackson was "playing to the gallery". In October 1971, Massell gave a speech to Atlanta's black community, exhorting them to "think white" to halt the flight of white Atlantans to the suburbs. With this speech, Massell alienated key members of the black community; his speech was criticized by John Lewis and alderman Henry Dodson. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Urban League resisted Maynard Jackson's attempts to gain support for his campaign until he showed them the results of a Cambridge Survey Research poll that demonstrated he could win 54 percent of the total vote.

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