Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed didn’t say anything publicly Wednesday about the dwindling chances of a comeback bid as election results continued to show him trailing third place behind Felicia Moore and Andre Dickens.
But on social media, Reed and his supporters were more vocal, spreading disinformation or sowing doubt about the outcome of the race.
Reed is in no rush to concede, trailing Dickens by 612 votes in the still unofficial results. He’s got every right to wait until the votes are finalized, particularly because there are a few hundred absentee and provisional ballots to be tallied. (Privately, some of Reed’s key allies acknowledge the reality that he’s got only a vanishingly slim shot of making the runoff.)
But Reed’s allies infuriated some in Atlanta’s political circles by spreading an erroneous radio report that alleged a new batch of Fulton County ballots showed Dickens had fallen behind Reed.
The report was retracted, and Fulton County officials took to Twitter to note that “no additional votes were added” Wednesday. Still, Reed’s allies pushed the false narrative about newly-found votes – and the former mayor amplified it.
Reed retweeted a voter who questioned whether he made the runoff, even though he is still trailing in the tally. And he “liked” a Twitter post from an ally who promoted the incorrect radio report.