Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) formally launched her campaign for Georgia governor on Tuesday, becoming the most high-profile figure to jump into the Democratic primary.
In a launch video titled “For Georgia,” Bottoms pays tribute to her grandmother teaching her and her family to “always stand up to bullies.” The former mayor goes on the offensive against President Trump, calling him “a disaster.” Bottoms also slams Trump’s senior adviser Elon Musk without naming him, saying Trump gave “an elected billionaire the power to cut Medicare and Social Security.”
Bottoms is vowing to make expanding Medicaid “my top priority” and to eliminate state income taxes for teachers. She has also touted her record as Atlanta mayor giving police officers and firefighters pay raises.
She also jabs at Trump for firing her from her post on the President’s Export Council at the start of his second administration, noting that she had already resigned from the post.
Bottoms, who served as Atlanta mayor for three years under the Trump administration, noted in an interview with The Hill that the 2024 election was “a turning point” for her.
“While I didn’t vote for him, I certainly hoped that this term would be different and unfortunately in many ways, it’s been worse,” Bottoms said.
Her candidacy comes as Democrats look to rebuild following their widespread losses in 2024.
When asked what Democrats can do differently going into the 2026 midterms, Bottoms said the party needs to “listen to people and believe them when they tell us what they care about.”
“People care about reproductive freedom, but if they can’t put food on the table, it’s often difficult for them to get to other issues,” she said. “People care about the economy. They care about being able to afford to pay their rent and to buy a home. They care about their retirement fund.”
Bottoms served as Atlanta mayor from 2018 to 2022 and was among President Biden’s choices to serve as his vice presidential pick in 2020. In 2022, Bottoms began serving as a senior adviser to Biden and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
The former mayor confirmed last month that she was positioning herself to run for governor. She joins Georgia state Sen. Jason Esteves (D) and pastor Olu Brown in the Democratic primary. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) announced in March she would be pausing her exploratory bid for the role, citing her husband’s cancer battle.
On the Republican side Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has jumped in the party’s primary, while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R ), and Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger have been floated as potential candidates.
If Bottoms were to win the governor’s race, she would become the first Democrat to hold the governor’s mansion since 2003. She could also potentially become the first Black women to serve as a state’s governor. Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R ) is the GOP nominee for governor in that state’s 2025 elections.
Georgia’s current Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R ) term ends as the state has become a pivotal battleground up and down the ballot. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the state’s governor and Senate races as “toss-ups.” Biden famously flipped the state in the 2020 presidential election, however Trump flipped it back last November.