Kenneth Darnell Hill (Georgia)

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Kenneth Darnell Hill

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 2, 2021

Education

Bachelor's

University of California, San Deigo

Personal

Profession

Co-founder, The Launchpad Foundation

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Kenneth Darnell Hill ran for election for Mayor of Atlanta in Georgia. Hill lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.

Biography

Hill earned his B.A. in economics from the University of California, San Diego. He worked for The Home Depot for 30 years prior to his retirement. Hill and his wife founded The Launchpad Foundation after his retirement.

2021 battleground election

See also: Mayoral election in Atlanta, Georgia (November 2, 2021 general election)

Andre Dickens and Felicia Moore were the top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan general election for mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Keisha Lance Bottoms announced on May 6 that she would not seek re-election, making her the first Atlanta mayor since World War II to choose not to run for a second term.

A candidate could have won the election outright if he or she received over 50% of the vote. Since no candidate crossed this threshold, Moore and Dickens advanced to a runoff election scheduled for November 30. From 1973 to 2017, six mayoral elections were won outright and six advanced to runoff elections.

Noteworthy endorsers and individual campaign donors focused on three candidates: City Councilman Dickens, City Council President Moore, and former Mayor Kasim Reed. All three candidates were Democrats.

Dickens was first elected to the Atlanta City Council representing the city's third at-large post in 2013 and won re-election in 2017. He received endorsements from the state United Auto Workers, Communications Workers of America Local 3204, and former Mayor Shirley Franklin (D). He raised $1.0 million from campaign donors according to pre-general election campaign finance reports.

Moore was first elected to the Atlanta City Council in 1997 and held the position until 2018. In 2017, she won election as the President of the Atlanta City Council. Moore received endorsements from EMILY's List, the Professional Association of City Employees, and state Rep. Becky Evans (D). She raised $1.1 million from campaign donors according to pre-general election campaign finance reports.

Reed served as Atlanta's mayor from 2010 to 2018. Before his mayorship, Reed served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003 and the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2009. He received endorsements from the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623, AFSCME Local 1644, and former Mayor Andrew Young (D). Reed raised $2.8 million from campaign donors according to pre-general election campaign finance reports.

Crime was a key issue in the race, with all three candidates emphasizing their stances amid an uptick in murders in the city. According to data released by the Atlanta Police Department, homicides in the city increased from 99 in 2019 to 157 in 2020, a 62% increase and the highest number in the city in more than twenty years.

All three candidates said they would increase the number of police officers and provide training in things like de-escalation techniques and racial sensitivity. Dickens said he would hire 250 officers during his first year. Moore said she would incentivize retired officers to return to work for 1-2 years and recruit new officers to fill open positions. Reed said he would hire 750 more police officers.

City Councilman Antonio Brown as well as Kirsten Dunn, Nolan English, Sharon Gay, Mark Hammad, Kenny Hill, Rebecca King, Walter Reeves, Roosevelt Searles III, Richard Wright, Glenn Wrightson, Brandon Adkins (write-in), and Henry Anderson (write-in) also ran in the general election.

Elections

2021

See also: Mayoral election in Atlanta, Georgia (2021)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Mayor of Atlanta

Andre Dickens defeated Felicia Moore in the general runoff election for Mayor of Atlanta on November 30, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Andre Dickens (Nonpartisan)	63.4	50,709
		Felicia Moore (Nonpartisan)	36.6	29,223

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 79,932
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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General election

General election for Mayor of Atlanta

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Atlanta on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Felicia Moore (Nonpartisan)	40.7	39,520
✔		Andre Dickens (Nonpartisan)	23.0	22,343
		Kasim Reed (Nonpartisan)	22.4	21,743
	Submit photo	Sharon Gay (Nonpartisan)	6.8	6,652
		Antonio Brown (Nonpartisan)	4.7	4,600
		Kenneth Darnell Hill (Nonpartisan)	0.6	546
		Rebecca King (Nonpartisan)	0.4	374
	Submit photo	Mark Hammad (Nonpartisan)	0.4	346
	Submit photo	Kirsten Dunn (Nonpartisan)	0.3	272
	Submit photo	Walter Reeves (Nonpartisan)	0.2	163
	Submit photo	Glenn Wrightson (Nonpartisan)	0.2	151
		Richard N. Wright (Nonpartisan)	0.1	139
		Nolan English (Nonpartisan)	0.1	100
	Submit photo	Roosevelt Searles III (Nonpartisan)	0.1	73
	Submit photo	Henry Anderson (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Submit photo	Brandon Adkins (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	162

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 97,184
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Atlanta mayoral election, 2021: general election polls
Poll	Date	Brown	Dickens	Dunn	English	Gay	Hammad	Hill	King	Moore	Reed	Reeves	Searles	Wright	Wrightson	Adkins (write-in)	Anderson (write-in)	Other	Margin of error	Sample size	Sponsor
University of Georgia	Oct. 6-20	2%	6%	0%	0%	4%	1%	0%	0%	24%	20%	0%	0%	0%	0%	-	-	41%	± 3.5	779	Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SurveyUSA	Sept. 28 - Oct. 5	5%	5%	1%	2%	5%	3%	4%	5%	8%	18%	4%	1%	4%	3%	-	-	31%	± 5.4	544	11Alive News
University of Georgia	Aug. 30 - Sept. 13, 2021	4%	5%	0%	0%	6%	0%	0%	0%	20%	24%	0%	0%	0%	0%	N/A	N/A	41%	± 3.4	842	Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SurveyUSA	July 20-26, 2021	5%	3%	N/A	N/A	5%	N/A	N/A	N/A	10%	17%	6%	N/A	N/A	N/A	2%	N/A	51%	± 5.7	516	11Alive News

Campaign finance

The graph below provides a more detailed look at candidates' contributions by splitting up the totals shown above into the different types of contributions recorded by the Office of the Municipal Clerk in Atlanta: itemized, unitemized, and loans (hover over the terms for details).

Noteworthy endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.

Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites, if available.

• Andre Dickens

Noteworthy endorsements
Endorsement	Dickens	Moore	Reed
Newspapers and editorials
The Emory Wheel	✔
Elected officials
State Sen. Donzella James (D)	✔
State Sen. Nan Orrock (D)	✔
State Rep. Becky Evans (D)		✔
State Rep. El-Mahdi Holly (D)	✔
DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry (D)		✔
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat (D)			✔
Atlanta City Councilwoman Jennifer Ide	✔
Atlanta City Councilwoman Carla Smith			✔
Individuals
Frmr. Mayor Shirley Franklin (D)	✔
Frmr. Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton	✔
Frmr. Mayor Andrew Young (D)			✔
Organizations
AFSCME Local 1644			✔
Atlanta Black Chambers		✔
Atlanta Realtors	✔
Bakers, Confectioners, Tobacco, and Grain Millers Local 42	✔
Communications Workers of America Local 3204	✔
EMILY's List		✔
Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys			✔
Georgia Federation of Public Service Employees			✔
Higher Heights for America		✔
International Association of Fire Fighters Local 134			✔
International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623			✔
National Black Church Initiative		✔
Professional Association of City Employees		✔
United Auto Workers Georgia State Community Action Program	✔

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Atlanta, Georgia (2017)

The city of Atlanta, Georgia, held a general election for mayor, city council president, three at large council members, 13 by district council members, and two city judges on November 7, 2017. Andrea Boone defeated Kenneth Darnell Hill and Beverly Rice in the general election for District 10 seat on the city council.

Atlanta City Council District 10, General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Andrea Boone	77.25%	5,965
Kenneth Darnell Hill	12.25%	946
Beverly Rice	10.50%	811
Total Votes		7,722
Source: Fulton County, Georgia, "November 7, 2017 Municipal General and Special Elections," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Campaign themes

2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Kenneth Darnell Hill did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Hill's campaign website stated the following:

“	Kenny Hill has a Plan for Peace Our city faces many challenges. We cannot expect to solve the issues of crime, affordable housing, transportation, and inequity with flawed leadership. Sustainable solutions require a foundation of transparency and trust. Trust in city government has been broken and must be restored. This requires a political outsider with the conviction to lead and the compassion to serve. I have the conviction and a plan to eradicate corruption and the crippling crime in our city. I also have the compassion to reach and lift the disenfranchised among us. My candidacy is based on things that I have already accomplished. Housing the homeless, stabilizing fragile families with affordable housing and moving them to sustainability, improving literacy rates for early learners, revitalizing communities, improving communication between police and the community are all things that I have done as a private citizen. Atlanta deserves servant leadership that will serve and unite every community in our city. Better Public Safety Atlanta’s Public Safety is a major issue in the city. Many neighborhoods and countless families are exposed to crime and unsafe environments every day in Atlanta. As a city, we cannot stand for that. We need to create a community that is safe for all families and visitors to this great city. I have a comprehensive plan to enlist, equip, and empower the APD called “Back The BLUEprint.” With “Back The BLUEprint”, we will be engaging officers at the beginning of them becoming Police Officers of the APD in the Academy. We will invest in the officers to empower them to become official ambassadors in the communities that they will serve. This new and innovative way of policing will become a template for other police departments. We have to respond with adequate advocacy and representation in these communities because if we don't advocate for the attention and the trust of our young people then the criminal activity will. With “Back The BLUEprint,” we are totally revisiting the impact on our officers and repositioning them to be successful on the job and in life. Kenny Hill's Back the BLUEPrint Plan "Crime is at the top of everyone’s mind, and it must be addressed, however “We cannot Arrest our Way out of this problem. We must Invest our way out.” As mayor I will support our officers and our communities 100 percent! My Back the BLUEPrint Plan Includes: Recruiting and retaining a minimum of 2000 officers. Building community connectivity with officers and citizens. Addressing root causes and the fruit produced by criminal behavior. Better Educational Outcomes The youth of our city for too long have become background, second tier, and not top priority by our city’s leadership. It is time for Atlanta to have a leader with compassion to do the right thing and walk hand in hand with Atlanta Public Schools to ensure that every resource needed is provided for our young people. Atlanta needs a leader who will focus on the next generation. Why? Because their future is our future. Children born in certain areas of Atlanta have less than a 4% chance of making it out of poverty. This statistical fact is directly connected to the educational opportunities available. It is on the elected leadership of our city to reach into the situations of poverty and provide a lifeline to pull people out of the situation that they didn’t ask to be in. As a new kind of Mayor for Atlanta, this is the type of leadership I will bring with the focus on providing a safe community for every community in our city. We Read Together We Read Together is an incentive-based community reading program that aims to make reading a strength for elementary school aged students. The program seeks to engage the parents and encourage them to create learning environments in the home. By creating set aside times for family reading and sharing without distractions, students connect with their parents around reading and learning. Better Affordable Housing When I think about affordable housing, the Atlanta Housing Authority has not built a single-family development in 11 years. Let thank sink in … 11 years and there has been no Atlanta Housing Authority development. While the former mayor who is now running for a 3rd Term touts that his administration was an economic boom for the city, there was no Atlanta Housing Authority development. Having a budget surplus was more important than addressing the needs of the thousands in need of housing. Residents living in apartments owned by absentee or negligent landlords speak of nightly gunfire These are pockets of hopelessness and despair. These deplorable living conditions breed crime that spreads throughout the city. And now, the need of affordable housing has compounded because it's been neglected. It is time to catch up. As mayor of Atlanta, I will continue to create livable, safe, and affordable housing for the residents of this city. The Launch Pad The Launch Pad Foundation was founded in 2014 it serves as a vehicle to take people from homelessness and disenfranchisement into sustainable housing. We partner with local homeless shelters and placement organizations to identify individuals who can benefit from the housing assistance while they acquire the skills needed to become self-sustained. Better City Leadership When I think about the challenges our city is facing, they are numerous, and they are serious: The severity of the challenges our city is facing is due to Compromised Leadership Career Politicians … Compromised City Leadership has led to the violent crime we are now facing in Atlanta. When the leaders of our city care more about their political careers, political agendas, and personal gain instead of providing the change needed, this type of corruption, negligence, and bureaucracy gives rise to chaos and crime. Because city leadership has not truly addressed the needs of affordable housing, educational advancement, economic equity, empowerment, and mobility, frustration and diminished hope has been bred. For example the Workforce Development Department has a history of corruption, mismanagement, and abuse. Millions of dollars have been returned to the federal government unused. Contracts have been awarded to groups with no qualifications other than their connection to the mayor. When you have City Departments that are supposed to serve the needs of the least fortunate of our city and help them rise above their plight but instead serve their own lusts this is another sign of a failed system and compromised leadership. Atlanta deserves a new kind of Mayor that will be focused on fighting for all citizens no matter if you live on the North side, the South side, the East side, or the West side. This is “Change Worth Finding.” Through my experience in business, I have learned the right way to do business. I've learned that you maintain your commitment to your associates, to your customers, to your suppliers and your shareholders. And when you lead in this manner, you don't disenfranchise anyone, and you actually enhance the forward momentum of your company. By showing compassion to all involved, you create true partnership. As a result, you have people truly pulling for the vision and pushing ahead in unity. We need leadership in Atlanta that is capable of serving as the CEO to make the hard decisions concerning crime. We also need leadership in Atlanta capable of serving as the CCO (Chief Compassion Officer) who looks at the homeless single families and the children who are not being educated to be able to compete in a global economy. Better Economic Opportunity Atlanta has numerous Infrastructure and Transportation needs that are hindering Atlanta’s Economic Development. The undelivered infrastructure projects continue to be held up by procurement. The reason for this is clear. We don't have enough qualified developers bidding on the projects … Why? Because we have run them off with the “pay for play.” We need to reboot and regain the trust of developers to come and work in the city of Atlanta. We need to create an environment for developers where they know that the jobs are going to be issued fairly. It should not matter how well your connection to City Hall is, or to the Procurement Team, or to the Mayor's office, or the City Council. The things that should matter most are that you are qualified to do the job that you are bidding on, and you are able to complete the job on time with a high level of quality. We have to have a holistic approach to how we administer contracts in Atlanta. We have to develop a holistic approach to administering contracts that results in jobs and economic mobility for workers. We should be a model for supporting businesses that excel in service delivery and improving the well being of their employees. Better Transportation Our city transportation is crucial for economic mobility. Unfortunately, we have citizens who earn the least but have the greatest commute and the most difficulty in getting to their workplaces or job centers. Atlanta needs to have transit-oriented development that makes accessible transportation to our work centers and our communities possible. In 2018, the City Council initiated the Transportation Department, but now there's a backlog. We have done the work, we know what needs to be done, but the same bureaucracy is now clogging the procurement process. Atlanta needs leadership that will cut through the red tape. As your Mayor, I will create pathways that eliminate corruption and get to the core of solving transportation issues in our city. I have the desire, the focus, and the resolve to make transportation a priority that yields results not excuses. We no longer can afford city leadership allowing or enabling continual delays.	”
—Kenny Hill's campaign website (2021)

Campaign ads

"The Right Choice for Mayor" - Hill campaign ad, released Oct. 27, 2021

"A New Kind of Mayor" - Hill campaign ad, released Sept. 23, 2021

"The Right Choice for Mayor" - Hill campaign ad, released Sept. 23, 2021

"Old Keys New Doors" - Hill campaign ad, released Sept. 23, 2021

"Story to Remember" - Hill campaign ad, released Sept. 4, 2021

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