Ex-Atlanta mayor Bottoms launches gubernatorial bid
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo courtesy of campaign of Keisha Lance Bottoms
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is jumping into the race to become Georgia's next governor.
Why it matters: Bottoms, who is the second Democrat to formally enter the race, is casting herself as a leader who can help steer the state through the turbulent waters of a second Trump administration.
- Her announcement comes a month after Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves announced his bid for the governorship, which will be vacant because Gov. Brian Kemp is term-limited.
- On the Republican side, Attorney General Chris Carr is running. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is also expected to compete in the GOP primary.
What they're saying: Bottoms told Axios in a phone interview Monday that the state is facing "uncertainty, a lot of anxiousness and even a lot of frustration based on the chaos that's coming out of Washington."
- "I think we're all looking to see what we can do during this time to make sure that our families and our communities are stable, and for me, it's stepping up to serve as governor of Georgia," she said.
- Her campaign on Tuesday released a video announcing her candidacy.
- Bottoms, who was mayor from 2018 to 2022, said her priorities will be expanding Medicaid, helping small businesses thrive amid the "economic uncertainty" in Washington, and removing the income tax for teachers.
Yes, and: During her tenure, Bottoms said, Atlanta experienced no property tax rate increases, layoffs or furloughs, and the city approved "historic" pay raises for police and firefighters.
Catch up quick: Before she became mayor, Bottoms was elected to the Atlanta City Council in 2009 and reelected in 2013.
- When she took office in 2018, Bottoms' administration had to contend with the aftershock of a city hall bribery and corruption scandal and a ransomware attack that cost Atlanta taxpayers around $17 million.
- Bottoms decided not to seek reelection in 2021 and was succeeded by incumbent Andre Dickens. In February 2022, she became a CNN political contributor; later that year, she joined the Biden White House as a senior adviser.
Context: Bottoms' administration was also running the city when the COVID pandemic brought the world to a halt.
- She rose to national prominence when she publicly criticized activists after storefronts were damaged and a police vehicle was torched Downtown during protests over the murder of George Floyd.
- She also sparred with Kemp when the city's crime rate spiked during the pandemic.
- The governor also sued Bottoms and the Atlanta City Council in July 2020 when Bottoms ordered face masks to be required in public spaces, NPR reported. (Kemp later dropped the lawsuit.)
Between the lines: Bottoms told Axios she was proud of her service as mayor, even though she opted to step down after four years.
- "It was the honor of a lifetime to serve as mayor of Atlanta, but for everything, there is a season," she said. "And … leaving at the end of the four-year term that I was elected to serve, it was time for me to enter a different season in my life, and it had nothing to do with not liking being mayor."
- In a 2022 interview with New York magazine, she said being mayor clashed with her personality: "an introvert masking as an extrovert."
- Even in Bottoms' first year as mayor, she said when announcing her decision not to seek a second term, "I wasn't sure that I would run again."
The bottom line: Though voter fatigue is real among Georgians, Bottoms said, "the more chaos that we see coming out of Washington, the more inspired people will be to stay engaged."