Incumbent mayor Kasim Reed, a member of the Democratic Party who had been in office since 2010, was ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.

However, no candidate revived a majority, so a runoff was held between Keisha Lance Bottoms and Mary Norwood, the top two finishers, on December 5.

On election night, unofficial results suggested that Keisha Lance Bottoms had narrowly won, but Norwood called for a recount.

This margin was less than the 1 percent threshold needed to avoid a mandatory recount.

[4] Norwood officially conceded the race on December 21,[4] and Lance Bottoms was inaugurated as the 60th mayor of Atlanta on January 2, 2018.