ATLANTA — Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms says her single term as Atlanta mayor gave her “battle-tested executive leadership” that she can offer to Georgia voters as she runs for governor.
Bottoms, 55, officially launched her campaign Tuesday, becoming the second well-known Democrat to jump into the 2026 race. State Sen. Jason Esteves of Atlanta announced his campaign in April.
“As we are facing the uncertainty and the anxiety that’s being created in Washington right now, I’m running to be a fighter for Georgia,” Bottoms told The Associated Press on Monday.
“I want to be able to fight and deliver for our communities, whether it’s from expanding Medicaid, to delivering for our small businesses, to making sure that people have a pathway to vocational and career training or college,” she said.
Bottoms and Esteves hope to succeed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who can’t run again at the end of his second term. On the Republican side, Attorney General Chris Carr kicked off his campaign in December, while Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is expected to announce that he’s running sometime this summer.
Among other Democrats, former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond has expressed interest, and two-time candidate Stacey Abrams could choose to run again. Also running as a Democrat is the Rev. Olujimi “Olu” Brown, a Methodist minister.
A lawyer and former magistrate judge, Bottoms won election to the Atlanta City Council in 2009 and was reelected in 2013 before outgoing Mayor Kasim Reed endorsed her as his successor.
Bottoms narrowly was elected and served one term that was defined by the pandemic. Every Atlanta mayor since World War II had sought a second term before the day in 2021 when Bottoms shocked Georgia’s political establishment by saying she would not. But she says that didn’t reflect a lack of desire for public service.
“Not having the energy to do the job, that was not the case. In fact, I ran through the tape,” Bottoms said, arguing she continued to accomplish things until the end of her term.
As an early supporter of former President Joe Biden, Bottoms was among those considered to be his vice president. After stepping down as mayor, she joined the Biden administration as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Bottoms said she’s not worried about being associated with an unpopular Biden. She also said she thinks her record on crime and public safety is a positive one, even though her administration struggled with the same COVID-19 era rise in murders as did other cities nationwide.
“As mayor I gave our police and firefighters a historic pay raise. I actually supported the building of the public safety (training) center in Atlanta that’s servicing people across the region,” Bottoms said. “So I have a very strong record when it comes to public safety.”
Proponents say the $118 million project, now complete, was sorely needed to replace outdated facilities.
One early night of Atlanta protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020 ended with the burning of a police car and broken windows downtown that were broadcast worldwide. Bottoms won national praise that night for ordering protesters to “go home” as she stood alongside Atlanta hip-hop stars Killer Mike and T.I.
But weeks after Floyd’s death, Rayshard Brooks, a Black man, was killed by an Atlanta police officer after a struggle following a field sobriety test. Atlanta’s police chief resigned hours later. After one of the officers was criminally charged, Atlanta police officers called in sick in waves. Later, protesters burned down the Wendy’s where Brooks died and an 8-year-old girl, Secoriea Turner, was killed when the car she was riding in was shot at near the restaurant.
The turmoil led then-President Donald Trump and Kemp to repeatedly attack Bottoms’ leadership. But Bottoms is betting that it’s Trump that Democratic voters will view as the chaos agent.
“My record has been one of providing steady leadership during chaotic times,” Bottoms said.
