Keisha Lance Bottoms wants to be the first mayor of Atlanta to be elected governor of Georgia.

2025, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms talks during a campaign stop in Columbus, Georgia, as part of her Democratic campaign for governor in 2026.

COLUMBUS, Ga. — The 600 steps between the governor's office in the gold-domed state Capitol and the mayor's office in Atlanta's imposing City Hall constitute the longest walk in Georgia politics.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms is not intimidated by the fact that no mayor of Atlanta has ever reached the highest position in the state.

Following a campaign stop in Columbus last week, she declared, "I am going to be the first because I am working to earn people's votes across the state." "Therefore, just because something hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't."

In a Democratic primary in May, the former mayor must first defeat six opponents. Republicans are waiting to criticize Bottoms for handling violence, chaos, and the COVID outbreak while she was mayor before shocking Atlanta politicians by declining to run for reelection if she manages to get past that obstacle.

Republican strategist Brian Robinson described Bottoms as "unelectable" and stated, "She is the easiest to run against."

Georgia Democrats are thrilled that two unknowns defeated Republican incumbents in statewide elections for the Public Service Commission on November 4. However, in order for the party to win its first Georgia governor's race since 1998, they need a nominee who can win over independents and even some Republicans.

When Joe Biden won the state's electoral votes for president in 2020, Democrats anticipated it would be a long-lasting victory. However, despite Abrams outspending Kemp, Republican Governor Brian Kemp easily defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in their rematch in 2022. Additionally, Donald Trump significantly increased Republican turnout in 2024 when he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in Georgia.

Early advantages

Some Bottoms supporters saw the primary as a process of elimination in a field that reflects many of the divisions Democrats confront across the country, such as suburban against urban, progressive versus moderate, and new faces versus established warhorses.

Although he is unknown in the state, former state senator Jason Esteves has the support of several party insiders. Michael Thurmond, a 72-year-old former state labor commissioner and CEO of DeKalb County, has a wealth of knowledge but has a poor fundraising track record. Geoff Duncan, a former Republican lieutenant governor, has gained attention for switching parties, but lifelong Democrats might not be satisfied with an apology for his previous GOP stances. State Representative Ruwa Romman may have a difficult time winning over centrist Democrats despite her promises of progressivism like to that of Zohran Mamdani. Despite having a military background, state representative Derrick Jackson placed sixth in the 2022 Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.

Advantages are where bottoms begin. Among the Democratic candidates, she is the most well-known. She has experience as an executive. She gained national fundraising contacts after entering Biden's cabinet and was considered by him as a potential vice presidential candidacy. In a state where Black women make up the majority of the Democratic Party, Bottoms is also the sole Black woman running for office. Georgia Democrats nominated five Black women for ten statewide posts in 2022.

Sheana Browning, who was present at the Columbus event, expressed her satisfaction with Bottoms' pledge to increase her and other state employees' salaries. Browning is a Black woman, as are around 70% of the about 125 participants. She listed Bottoms' "prior mayoral status and the fact that she's a Black woman" as the main justifications for supporting her.

Reminding voters who she is

Bottoms, on the other hand, is attempting to reintroduce herself. She’s reminding voters that her father, a ‘60s soul crooner, went to prison for dealing cocaine and that her mother enlisted in cosmetology school at night to support the family. She’s also burnishing her mayoral record. She rattled off a string of accomplishments in questions with reporters in Columbus — building municipal reserves to $180 million, avoiding property tax increases, giving raises to police and firefighters, creating or preserving 7,000 affordable housing units.

“That sounds pretty successful to me,” Bottoms said.

Additionally, Bottoms promotes affordability by stating that she will exempt teachers from state income taxes and take additional steps to build affordable housing, such as "cracking down" on businesses that rent tens of thousands of single-family homes in Georgia.

Bottoms stated, "I think we can really put a dent into this affordability issue."

A long shadow from 2020

However, there are issues with her mayoral record, particularly with regard to the difficult summer of 2020. Bottoms' political career may have reached its pinnacle on May 30, 2020, when she vehemently denounced the violence and chaos in Black Lives Matter demonstrations and chastised those who set fire to a police cruiser, looted stores, and destroyed structures.

"We're stronger than this! As a nation and as a city, we are superior to this! Bottoms stated in a speech that increased awareness of her potential selection as Biden's vice president. "Return home! "Go home!"

The low point, however, came a few weeks later on July 4, when an 8-year-old girl in an SUV was shot and murdered by armed men stationed at improvised barricades next to a Wendy's that had been set on fire by protesters after police had shot and killed a Black man in the parking lot. Following the prosecution's criminal charges against two policemen involved in Rayshard Brooks' shooting, a "blue flu" of officers called in sick. According to Bottoms, she allowed a member of the City Council additional time to work with demonstrators to get them to leave without the need for police intervention.

Robinson describes it as "she repeatedly chose the side of the mob over the Atlanta police."

The reelection that never happened

Bottoms is the first mayor of Atlanta since World War II to decline to run for reelection in May 2021. She later joined Biden's reelection campaign after working for a year as his senior adviser for public engagement.

Esteves has been intensifying his criticism, stating on WXIA-TV that Bottoms is "a former mayor who abandoned the city at a time of crisis, and decided not to run for reelection" and that Bottoms is one of several candidates with "baggage that Republicans will be able to focus on."

Bottoms disputes that she is a quitter, claiming that she would have won reelection and that her political position remained strong. In May, Bottoms stated, "I ran through the tape." "We delivered at the end of the term."

Esteves received support in May from Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman as well as members Eshé Collins, Amir Farokhi, and Jason Dozier. In 2021, Shipman was elected citywide as president of the City Council. He claimed that throughout that year, voters expressed dissatisfaction with crime, rubbish collection, and attempts to divide the city by allowing its Buckhead section to leave.

Regarding the 2026 governor's primary, Shipman stated that Democrats need "a fresh start" and "some new energy," adding, "I think that that frustration is something that people are going to have to revisit."

However, Bottoms believes that her track record and experience should win.

"I am a battle-tested leader, and I have been telling people all over the state that I understand what it's like to go into battle," she stated. "I understand what it's like to oppose Donald Trump. I understand what it's like to stand up to Donald Trump.