Mayor’s race starts early

The election season doesn’t officially kick off until Labor Day, but the mayoral race has been gathering steam over the past week, with public sparring between Mayor Kip Holden and his only well-funded challenger, Councilman Mike Walker, escalating. It began with a series of radio ads from Walker attacking Holden’s record on crime, which was followed by public comments from Holden accusing Walker of stealing his crime-fighting ideas. Then came denials from Walker of such, followed by Holden’s sudden request to the Metro Council to amend the budget and appropriate $11.7 million in recently found surplus funds to local law enforcement. More campaign rhetoric is expected this week, as Holden officially kicks off his re-election campaign Tuesday and the Metro Council considers the budget amendment at its meeting Wednesday. Still, political analysts say the race is pretty much Holden’s to lose at this point. “Up till now there really has been no race,” says political pollster Bernie Pinsonat. “It’s been a nothing campaign so far.” Pinsonat doesn’t expect the intensity of the competition to change much, though he points out that the mayoral election isn’t until November, a full month later than usual. “That still gives someone a lot of time to raise money if they want to jump in,” he says. “You could announce in August and still have plenty of time. Unfortunately, no one seems interested in the job. —Stephanie Riegel