Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms surprises by not seeking second term
The mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who was seen as a possible running mate for Joe Biden in last year’s presidential election, said late on Thursday she will not seek a second term in office.
Bottoms, 51, who was elected mayor in 2017 and is just the second Black woman to lead the city, did not provide a specific reason for her decision and did not say what she would do next, when she announced the surprise news.
“It is with deep emotions that I hold my head high, and choose not to seek another term as Mayor,” Bottoms wrote on Twitter.
In a morning press conference on Friday, Bottoms, visibly tearful, cited challenges during her tenure including a March 2018 cyber-attack on the city during the early months of her term; social justice protests after the murder of George Floyd, where police aggressively clashed with demonstrators; and being mayor during the administration of Donald Trump, whom she described as “the madman in the White House”.
Bottoms was clear that family reasons were not behind her decision to step down. She also said she would not be accepting a position at Walgreens after her term is finished, addressing rumors that she would be working with her close friend and Walgreens chief executive, Roz Brewer.
Bottoms also said that her decision was not because of doubts that she could win a second term in office. As Bottoms stated, polling numbers show that if a mayoral election was held today, she would win the race without a runoff.
“I don’t know what’s next for me personally and for my family. But what I do know is that this is a decision made from a position of strength, not weakness, said Bottoms.
Bottoms had previously been fundraising money for her re-election efforts, including hosting a virtual fundraiser with Joe Biden, and now donations will be returned, she said.
She said in her letter to social media that the decision came “as [my husband] Derek and I have given thoughtful prayer and consideration to the season now before us”.
“Multiple credible polls have shown that if the race for Mayor were held today, I would be re-elected,” read the statement.
It also listed a number of Bottoms’ achievements in office, including ending Atlanta’s contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) that placed detainees in the Atlanta city jail; helping to elect Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice-president; and the Democratic victories of the US senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossof in Georgia.
Bottoms’ sudden reversal on reelection is surprising, given her growing popularity in the Democratic party.
Bottoms was an early endorser of Biden and played a crucial role in promoting his 2020 campaign.
She was also offered a cabinet position under Biden, one she turned down last December, citing her mayoral responsibilities in Atlanta.
Bottoms now said that if she had known of someone at the time who “could step up” and be the mayor of Atlanta, she “likely would have made another decision” when she was offered the cabinet position.
“I wanted to finish what I started and I didn’t see who could step in and lead this city,” she said.
Apart from the crises of Covid-19, a cyber-attack and police killings,
Atlanta was scored with an increase in violence last year. In addition to a record number of homicides, the most since 1996, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, eight people, the majority of Asian descent, were killed in a mass shooting at two area spas.
Bottoms had publicly stated that she believed race played a role in the shooting suspect’s motive.
Bottoms had made national headlines after being sued by Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, for ordering a face mask mandate for Atlanta, publicly calling the governor’s leadership “irresponsible”.
The mayor’s handling of Brooks’s
death has been met with criticism, especially following the reinstatement of officer Garrett Rolfe this week, who shot Brooks, after a review board found the city had not followed its own disciplinary procedures.
Now there will be fevered speculation about who will run the largest city in Georgia, including another go for two-term past mayor Kasim Reed.