Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms launches bid for Georgia governor
Source: ABC News/AP
May 20, 2025, 6:00 AM
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.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/former-atlanta-mayor-keisha-lance-bottoms-launches-bid-121978858
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