Keisha Lance Bottoms

Keisha Lance Bottoms was born on January 18, 1970, in Atlanta, Georgia; her father was the R&B singer-songwriter Major Lance.⁠[1]

From 1991 to 1995 she studied at Florida A&M University, earning a B.A. in communications (broadcast journalism), and from 1994 to 1996 she attended Georgia State University College of Law, earning a J.D.⁠[1][2]

In January 2000 Bottoms opened a private law practice. In 2008 she served as a part-time magistrate judge.⁠[1]

In 2009 Bottoms was elected to represent District 11 on the Atlanta City Council and was re-elected in 2013, serving until 2017. She was vice chair of the Public Safety Committee and chair of the Zoning Committee.⁠[1][2]

From 2015 to 2017 she was also executive director of the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority.⁠[1][2]

In the 2017 Atlanta mayoral runoff Bottoms defeated Mary Norwood, 50.45% to 49.55%, a margin of fewer than 1,000 votes.⁠[2]

On January 2, 2018, Bottoms was sworn in as Atlanta’s 60th mayor, the first in the city’s history to have served in all three branches of government. During her term the city went through a cyberattack, the COVID-19 pandemic and a racial justice movement.⁠[3]

Under her administration Atlanta created its first Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, One Atlanta, and she signed an ordinance ending cash bonds as a condition of release from the city detention center for people arrested on city ordinance violations. Atlanta hosted the 2019 Super Bowl, and Georgia Trend named her its 2020 Georgian of the Year.⁠[4]

In June 2019 she endorsed Joe Biden for president. She served one term, did not seek re-election, and left office on January 3, 2022.⁠[1][4][2]

On June 15, 2022, President Joe Biden named Bottoms, then a CNNCNNCNN (Cable News Network) is an Atlanta-based news organization founded by Ted Turner on June 1, 1980, as the world’s first 24-hour television news channel. It has been owned in turn by Turner Broadcasting System, Time Warner, AT&T and Warner Bros. Discovery, became part of Skydance Corporation along with Warner Bros. Discovery in October 2026, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry political commentator, as senior advisor to the president for public engagement, overseeing the White House Office of Public Engagement.⁠[3]

In February 2023 the White House announced that she would leave the post and return to Atlanta, with former Columbia, South Carolina, mayor Steve Benjamin taking over as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.⁠[2][5]

On May 20, 2025, Bottoms announced her candidacy for governor of Georgia, an open seat because Governor Brian Kemp was term-limited. She was the first former Atlanta mayor to run for governor of Georgia.⁠[4]

Announcing her run, she said: “The state is looking for a fighter right now. Someone who will fight against the chaos that’s coming out of Washington.”⁠[4]

On May 19, 2026, Bottoms won the Democratic primary for governor with 56.2% of the vote, avoiding a runoff. Other candidates included former state Senator Jason Esteves (18.7%), former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond (12.9%) and former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan (7.0%).⁠[2][6]

At 9:24 p.m. ET on November 3, 2026, the Associated Press called Georgia’s governor’s race for Keisha Lance Bottoms over Republican Rick Jackson, to succeed term-limited Governor Brian Kemp. Libertarian Chase Oliver, the party’s 2024 presidential nominee, was also on the ballot.⁠[7][6]

She is set to become Georgia’s first woman governor, the first Black woman to serve as governor in the United States and the first Black governor in Georgia’s history.⁠[6]

Personal website: https://www.keishaforgovernor.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]

X: Public account: https://x.com/keishabottoms (opens in a new window).⁠[8]