Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has but once more hinted that she intends to run for governor of Georgia. She confirmed her plans whereas talking on the Main Girls Outlined Summit on Thursday.
Bottoms, who served as mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022, mentioned in a press release following her remarks to the room of Black ladies, “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that there’s a ‘fierce urgency of now.’ For the folks of Georgia, that features having leaders who aren’t blindly following Trump off of an ethical and financial cliff, however centered on the urgent wants in our communities.”
The 55-year-old politician added, “I’ve beforehand publicly shared that I used to be critically contemplating a run for governor and count on to make a proper announcement quickly.”
If Bottoms had been profitable within the November 2026 gubernatorial election, she would turn out to be the Peach State’s first lady and first Black governor. She would additionally make historical past because the nation’s first Black feminine governor–a feat that Stacey Abrams tried and failed twice previously two Georgia gubernatorial races.
Bottoms has been hinting at a run for governor for months. As mayor of Atlanta, she was praised for her management, significantly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when town noticed mass riots throughout the Black Lives Matter uprisings in 2020. She was additionally vital of Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, for opening up companies again up throughout the pandemic, arguing that it was too early and introduced a public security risk. Bottoms additionally slammed President Donald Trump for making the lethal coronavirus pandemic “worse” and stoking racial tensions.
That very same yr, the previous Atlanta mayor additionally led town by means of tensions between the neighborhood and the native police division after the deadly police capturing of Rayshard Brooks. Bottoms mentioned Brooks’ dying was “private to so many individuals of colour.”
“That might have been any one in all us,” she advised NBC’s “TODAY.” “That may very well be any of our youngsters or brothers. On this case it was: It was somebody’s father.”
After leaving the mayor’s workplace, Bottoms labored on the White Home as a senior advisor to President Joe Biden and director of the Workplace of Public Engagement. She remained on the job for a couple of yr. When asserting her position on the White Home, President Biden praised Bottoms as a “vibrant, honorable, robust” chief with nice integrity.
“Throughout one of many worst financial downturns the world has ever confronted, the Bottoms Administration delivered 4 years of balanced budgets, with out resorting to property tax will increase, layoffs or furloughs of Metropolis workers,” mentioned Biden. “The Bottoms Administration made historic strides associated to legal justice reform, turned a mannequin metropolis for LGBTQ affairs, and reclaimed its title as operating the world’s busiest and best airport.”
He added, “She is a visionary chief in bringing equitable outcomes to the forefront of presidency and commerce.”
