ATLANTA (AP) Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Thursday she will not seek a second term, an election-year surprise that marks a sharp turnabout for the city’s second Black woman executive who months ago was among those President Joe Biden considered for his running mate.
Bottoms, 51, disclosed her decision publicly in a lengthy open letter and accompanying video Thursday night after having told family and a close circle of associates and supporters.
“It is with deep emotions that I hold my head high and choose not to seek another term as mayor,” Bottoms wrote, saying she’d prayed about the decision with her husband, Derek, an executive at the Home Depot Inc.
ATLANTA (AP) â Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Friday she has wrestled since her first year in office with whether to seek a second term, and this week she made a final decision to step aside even as she insisted she doesn t know what she ll do next.
âLeadership sometimes is about passing off the baton,â Bottoms told reporters at City Hall, the morning after releasing an election-year surprise public letter and video announcing that she wouldn t run for re-election this year.
It was a stunning announcement for the 51-year-old politician who is just the second Black woman to lead Atlanta and who less than a year ago was among the women President Joe Biden considered as a possible running mate.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announces she will not seek re-election
The mayor released a letter Thursday night announcing her decision
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Photograph by Megan Varner/Getty Images
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms will not seek re-election in November, a surprising move by the popular though politically vulnerable incumbent that opens wide the race to lead Atlanta.
“As [my husband] Derek and I have given thoughtful prayer and consideration to the season now before us, it is with deep emotions that I hold my head high, and choose not to seek another term as Mayor,” Bottoms wrote in a letter and video posted to a website, dearatl.com, seemingly built for the announcement. In the letter, she ran down a list of her accomplishments and was adamant she could be a formidable candidate if she were to run for a second term.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says decision not to run for reelection was made from a position of strength cbsnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cbsnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
POLITICO
Keisha Lance Bottoms exits Atlanta s mayoral race without ruling out political future
The 51-year-old has led a city marred by multiple crises, including the pandemic, monthslong protests and a spike in violent crime.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms s departure from the race is sure to open it up to a wide range of prospects.
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Keisha Lance Bottoms said Friday morning that she would not seek a second term as Atlanta s mayor, citing the tumultuous last four years.
Bottoms alerted staffers and allies of her plans to exit the race on Thursday evening in a call first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. During a news conference at Atlanta’s City Hall on Friday, Bottoms held back tears as she called her term as mayor her “highest honor.”