ATLANTA—Voters head to the polls Tuesday in a crowded mayoral contest dominated by public concern over a jump in violent crime.

Fourteen candidates are vying to succeed Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who chose not to seek re-election after 2020 protests that were followed by vandalism, a police shooting that sparked further unrest and a rise in murders and other violent crimes.

The...

ATLANTA—Voters head to the polls Tuesday in a crowded mayoral contest dominated by public concern over a jump in violent crime.

Fourteen candidates are vying to succeed Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who chose not to seek re-election after 2020 protests that were followed by vandalism, a police shooting that sparked further unrest and a rise in murders and other violent crimes.

The election is one of dozens of mayoral races happening around the U.S. on Tuesday, as well as much-watched gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. Voters in Boston are poised to elect a woman as mayor for the first time in the city’s history. The Minneapolis election—the first since the unrest following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020—includes a mayoral race and a ballot item to decide whether to replace the police department with a department of public safety.

In Atlanta, former Mayor Kasim Reed and City Council President Felicia Moore are leading the field of candidates, according to recent polls, and both have said combating crime will be their priority if elected.

‘The next mayor has about 180 days to reduce crime in a pretty dramatic fashion,’ says Atlanta mayoral candidate Kasim Reed, a former mayor of the city.

Photo: erik s lesser/Shutterstock

Mr. Reed, 52 years old, who was mayor just preceding Ms. Bottoms from 2010 to 2018, has called for hiring 750 new police officers, giving precincts new equipment and tripling the city’s network of traffic cameras and license-plate readers, including adding more cameras in public parks.

When he was mayor, crime was at a 40-year low, he said in an interview, noting that the police union has endorsed his re-election.

“Issue one, two, three in this election is crime and violence,” he said. Crime is so bad that some people in the city’s wealthiest neighborhood, Buckhead, are proposing a referendum to set up a separate city as early as next year. The next Atlanta mayor has just a few months to turn around the crime problem “or our city will literally become two cities,” Mr. Reed said. “The next mayor has about 180 days to reduce crime in a pretty dramatic fashion.”

Ms. Moore, 60, has pushed solutions such as developing neighborhood watch programs, as well as building up the police force with programs that bring back officers who have retired and recruit new ones. She also wants to train police to reduce tensions and avoid excessive use of force.

“Everywhere I go, everyone wants to know what are you going to do about the crime issue?” Ms. Moore said in an interview.

Atlanta residents are “uneasy and fearful,” and they want a leader who “will set the tone from the top that we are going to tackle this,” she said.

Felicia Moore, city council president, has backed development of neighborhood watch programs, building up the police force and training police to reduce tensions.

Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Like many other U.S. cities, Atlanta has seen incidents of violent crime increase since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests that summer. In June 2020, Atlanta police officers shot and killed Rayshard Brooks outside a fast-food restaurant, leading to protests and the burning of the restaurant. The police chief resigned and the officer who opened fire is facing multiple charges, including felony murder.

As of Oct. 23, murders in Atlanta were up 13% over the same year-to-date period in 2020, and 58% from the same period in 2019, according to Atlanta police statistics. Rapes, aggravated assaults and auto thefts are all up compared with 2020.

Mr. Reed’s two terms in office were marked by fiscal stability, population growth and business development. But his time in office was tainted by a federal probe into corruption in his administration. Several people have pleaded guilty to various charges and others await trial. Mr. Reed’s chief financial officer and a deputy chief of staff were sentenced to prison on bribery-related counts. Mr. Reed said he did nothing wrong and was never charged with a crime.

Ms. Moore has spent decades on the city council and touts her efforts to overhaul the city’s pension system, secure pay raises for police and firefighters and fight to expand affordable housing in the city as home prices rise. She said Atlanta needs “a leader who has integrity” and not someone clouded by ethical issues.

A September poll by the University of Georgia for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found 44% of respondents stated that crime was the city’s most pressing issue. Mr. Reed led the polling with about 24%, followed by Ms. Moore with about 20%. The other 12 candidates garnered single-digit support, and about 41% of those polled were undecided.

If no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes cast, a runoff between the two leading candidates will be held on Nov. 30.

Nikolay Orekhov, 38, a stay-at-home dad in Atlanta’s Ormewood Park neighborhood, said he cast his ballot for Mr. Reed in early voting, though he understands how polarizing Mr. Reed is.

“I’m still grappling with that decision,” he said. Atlanta’s economy improved when Mr. Reed was mayor, and crime was relatively low, so perhaps what Atlanta needs now is a leader “who can get things done,” Mr. Orekhov said.

Write to Cameron McWhirter at cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com