Keisha Bottoms

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Keisha Bottoms

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Atlanta City Council District 11

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Mayor of Atlanta

Successor: Andre Dickens

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Report an officeholder change

Education

Bachelor's

Florida A&M University

Law

Georgia State University

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Personal website

Keisha Bottoms was the Mayor of Atlanta in Georgia. Bottoms assumed office on January 2, 2018. Bottoms left office on January 3, 2022.

Bottoms ran for re-election for Mayor of Atlanta in Georgia. Bottoms won in the general runoff election on December 5, 2017.

Bottoms was sworn in on January 2, 2018. Mayoral elections in Atlanta are nonpartisan. Bottoms is affiliated with the Democratic Party.

She was a member of the Atlanta City Council in Georgia, representing District 11 from 2010 to 2017.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bottoms criticized Gov. Brian Kemp's (R) reopening plan for the state and released her own reopening recommendations for Atlanta. Also in 2020, Bottoms issued administrative orders related to policing following the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta. Read more below.

In her first year as mayor, Bottoms signed an executive order to stop accepting detainees from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Learn more below.

On June 15, 2022, President Joe Biden (D) announced he would appoint Bottoms to serve as senior advisor to the president for public engagement. The White House announced she would be resigning from the position in February 2023.

Biography

Bottoms earned her bachelor's degree from Florida A&M University. She later received her J.D. from Georgia State University. At the time of the 2017 mayoral election, Bottoms was an attorney in private practice. She previously served as the executive director of the Atlanta and Fulton County Recreation Authority.

Elections

2021

See also: Municipal elections in Atlanta, Georgia (2021)

Keisha Bottoms did not file to run for re-election.

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Atlanta, Georgia (2017)

The city of Atlanta, Georgia, held a runoff election for any race where no candidate received a majority (50 percent plus one) of the general election votes cast in the general election the month prior. Keisha Bottoms defeated Mary Norwood in the runoff election for mayor. Norwood's campaign requested a recount on December 13 after official results showed her behind by 832 votes out of 92,502 ballots cast. The recount on December 14 confirmed that Bottoms had won. On December 20, Norwood conceded defeat.

Mayor of Atlanta, Runoff Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Keisha Bottoms	50.45%	46,667
Mary Norwood	49.55%	45,835
Total Votes		92,502
Source: City of Atlanta, GA, "Fulton County/DeKalb County ‐ Official and Complete Combined Results," accessed December 12, 2017

The city of Atlanta, Georgia, held a general election for mayor, city council president, three at large council members, 13 by district council members, and two city judges on November 7, 2017. The following candidates ran in the general election for mayor.

Mayor of Atlanta, General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Keisha Bottoms	26.19%	25,347
Mary Norwood	20.81%	20,144
Cathy Woolard	16.67%	16,134
Peter Aman	11.29%	10,924
Vincent Fort	9.62%	9,310
Ceasar Mitchell	9.43%	9,124
Kwanza Hall	4.33%	4,192
John Eaves	1.24%	1,202
Rohit Ammanamanchi	0.20%	196
Michael Sterling	0.11%	104
Glenn Wrightson	0.10%	100
Laban King	0.00%	0
Write-in votes	0.01%	7
Total Votes		96,784
Source: DeKalb County, Georgia, "Election Summary Report, November 7, 2017, Unofficial and Incomplete," November 7, 2017 and Fulton County, Georgia, "November 7, 2017 Municipal General and Special Elections," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Campaign themes

2017

Bottoms' campaign website included the following themes:

“	Work towards expanding economic growth and job development in Atlanta by: Working to expand job training for Atlanta residents; Working to expand small business incentives; Working to improve communities throughout Atlanta so that they are desirable for residents and businesses. Work to expand sidewalks and transit options by: Working with regional leaders to ensure that each community in Atlanta has easy access to a network of transit options including sidewalks, bike paths, walking trails, and mass transit. Continue to fight to reduce crime by: Bringing cameras, security patrols, officer housing and license plate readers to each neighborhood; Raising the Atlanta police force to 2500 officers; Moving sworn officers from administrative jobs to the street.	”
—Keisha Bottoms (2017)

Notable endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.

Notable candidate endorsements by Keisha Bottoms

Endorsee	Election	Stage	Outcome
Joe Biden  source  (D, Working Families Party)	President of the United States (2020)		Won General

Noteworthy events

Tested positive for coronavirus on July 6, 2020

See also: Government official, politician, and candidate deaths, diagnoses, and quarantines due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021

On July 6, 2020, Bottoms announced on Twitter that she had tested positive for coronavirus but did not have symptoms.

COVID-19 response

See also: Government responses to and political effects of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 (Georgia)

Bottoms issued a stay-at-home order for Atlanta on March 23, 2020. Gov. Brian Kemp issued a statewide stay-at-home order effective April 3. His order superseded any local orders. It expired April 30.

Kemp announced his reopening plan on April 20, 2020. Municipalities could not implement more or less restrictive measures than the statewide plan. Bottoms encouraged people in Atlanta to continue to stay home and formed the Advisory Council for Reopening the City of Atlanta.

Bottoms wrote the following in an op-ed in The Atlantic on April 30:

“

As the mayor of Georgia’s largest city, I expressed opposition to Governor Brian Kemp’s recent order allowing certain businesses—dine-in restaurants, gyms, hair and nail salons, barbershops, tattoo parlors and bowling alleys—to reopen before health experts say doing so is safe. I hope the day for Atlanta to endorse such a move will come soon, but it is not here yet. Reopening the state and relaxing social-distancing measures now is irresponsible and could even be deadly. Our hospitals may not be stretched to capacity, but that does not mean we should work to fill the vacant beds. I strongly believe that our health-care system is not overwhelmed because we have been socially distancing. And while staying at home may be inconvenient for many people, there is nothing essential about going to a bowling alley during a pandemic. We need to continue to do whatever it takes to keep the number of cases from rising.

”

On May 21, Bottoms released a five-phase plan for reopening businesses and resuming activities in Atlanta. Compliance with phases and guidelines that deviated from the statewide plan was voluntary.

Demonstrations, protests, and curfews following the deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Bottoms was mayor of Atlanta during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Atlanta, Georgia, began on Friday, May 29, 2020, at Centennial Park. That night, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) activated the Georgia National Guard at the request of Mayor Keisha Bottoms (D). On May 30, Bottoms issued a curfew from 9:00 p.m. to sunrise that extended through the weekend.

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process." On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death. Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.

In Atlanta on June 12, 2020, Rayshard Brooks, a black man, died after Garret Rolfe, a white officer, shot him. Officers responded to a complaint about a man—Brooks—sleeping in his car at a Wendy's restaurant. Brooks took a breathalyzer test and was reportedly above the legal limit. A struggle ensued when officers tried to put Brooks in handcuffs, and Brooks obtained one of the officer's tasers and began running. Brooks pointed the taser over his shoulder, and Rolfe shot him in the back.

On June 16, Bottoms issued two administrative orders related to policing. One order included "requiring officers to intervene when seeing another officer using force that is beyond what is reasonable under the circumstances" and applying "de-escalation techniques to gain voluntary compliance and [using] only the amount of objectively reasonable force necessary." The other order directed city officials to work with experts in policing techniques to develop recommendations for Bottoms around "what situations are appropriate for police to respond to, how police officers are trained, and how to reduce unnecessary interactions with the police."

Bottoms ends cooperation with ICE

See also: Sanctuary jurisdictions

On September 6, 2018, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms signed an executive order directing the chief of the city Department of Corrections to stop accepting immigration and customs enforcement detainees. The order also instructed the corrections chief to formally request that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transfer detainees out of Atlanta as soon as possible.

In a press release, Bottoms attributed the order to opposition to the separation of children from parents crossing the border illegally. She said, "As we work to achieve our vision of an Atlanta that is welcoming and inclusive, with equal opportunity for all, it is untenable for our City to be complicit in the inhumane immigration policies that have led to the separation of hundreds of families at the United States southern border." Click here for more information.

Opponents of Bottoms' order said cooperating with ICE was a matter of public safety. They argued that noncooperation put officers and communities at risk.

Bottoms asks cabinet to resign

On April 9, 2018, Bottoms asked her entire cabinet of 35 officials to resign by the end of the day, according to the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Bottoms initially said she would decide whose resignations to accept or decline by the end of the week. On April 10, Bottoms said she would decide in several weeks. At a press conference, she said, "It is important for me to establish my team, and I think that it's important for the public to know that the team going forward is a team that I selected, not inherited."

City government in Atlanta

The city of Atlanta utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body while the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.

Mayor

The mayor serves as the city's chief executive and is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national and international levels.

City council

The Atlanta City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies and ordinances. A council president, who is elected by the city at-large, presides over council meetings.

Membership

See also: List of current city council officials of the top 100 cities in the United States

The Atlanta City Council is made up of 16 members, including a council president. Twelve members are elected by the city's 12 districts, while three other members and the council president are elected at large.

A current list of council members can be found here.

See also

Atlanta, Georgia	Georgia	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

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Personal

Website

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Mayor of Atlanta 2018-2022	Succeeded by Andre Dickens
Preceded by -	Atlanta City Council District 11 2010-2017	Succeeded by -