An Augusta native is a front runner in today's Atlanta mayoral election, political observers say.

Mary Bush Norwood, who grew up in Augusta before leaving for college and eventually Atlanta, has strong support across the city.

Polls were to close at 8 p.m. If she wins, Ms. Norwood, would become the city's first white mayor in nearly 40 years.

In all, six candidates are vying for the position, and most political experts believe a runoff is likely due to expected low voter turnout.

Ms. Norwood has been on the Atlanta city council for seven years but ran as an outsider who would make the city safer and more accountable. She began campaigning as early as last summer — some say even earlier — gathering support from white and black communities.

Ms. Norwood was born in 1952 in Augusta to Bill Bush, a brick manufacturer, and Frenchie Battey Bush, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She is the oldest of six children.

She spent two years at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, then transferred to Emory University, where she graduated in 1974 with a degree in history.

She has been married for 25 years to Felton Norwood, a pediatrician for Piedmont Hospital.