Atlanta — ATL rap giant and political pundit, Killer Mike, a famous rapper best known for his involvement with the group Run the Jewels, announced Monday that he was running as a write-in candidate for representative of Georgia’s 55th district in the state legislature, June 16. He even coined his own candidacy phrase, “If I Win, We Win”.
However, he later posted on Instagram saying he couldn’t run since he never registered as a write-in candidate.
According to Georgia law, write-in votes are only counted in elections if the candidate has filed an official notice of his or her candidacy with the Secretary of State. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 30. A runoff election, if necessary, will take place on July 14.
Killer Mike born Michael Fender announced that he would be running in Georgia’s 55th District special election, which is to be held today, later announced that he would indeed run one day and that everyone should remain active in politics.
The 55th district seat was vacated in April after longtime politician and civil rights leader Rep. Tyrone Brooks pleaded guilty to tax fraud. In order to win the election, the Outkast collaborator would have had to defeat seven other democratic candidates — including Brooks’ son — who have been campaigning in Atlanta for months.
The announcement came in the wake of several politically charged talk show appearances by Render, including HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” in May and CNN in December. An Atlanta-native, he has been a particularly outspoken advocate of criminal justice and prison reform, views that could have proved to be an obstacle for separating Render from the rest of the liberal pack.
Although write-in winners are rare, if Killer Mike had been able to use name recognition to his advantage, he may have been able to win what will likely be a low-turnout election.
AJ Woodson
AJ Woodson is the Editor-In-Chief of Black Westchester and Co-Owner of Urban Soul Media Group, the parent company, Host & Producer of the People Before Politics Radio Show. AJ is a Father, Brother, An Author, Journalism Fellow (Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism), Hip-Hop Artist - one third of the legendary underground rap group JVC FORCE known for the single Strong Island, Radio Personality, Hip-Hop Historian, Documentarian, Activist, Criminal Justice Advocate and Freelance Journalist whose byline has appeared in several print publications and online sites including The Source, Vibe, the Village Voice, Upscale, Sonicnet.com, Launch.com, Rolling Out Newspaper, Daily Challenge Newspaper, Spiritual Minded Magazine, Word Up! Magazine, On The Go Magazine and several others.
