Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms enters Georgia governor’s race

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is announcing Tuesday that she is entering the race for Georgia governor in the second Democrat to declare a run for the state s top job Bottoms served as mayor of Atlanta from to but after a controversial first term decided against seeking reelection Bottoms would later become a senior advisor to former President Joe Biden Bottoms revealed Monday that she was prepared for the role of governor after achieving historic pay raises for Atlanta police officers and firefighters and ensuring the vitality of small businesses especially during the COVID- pandemic During her tenure as mayor Bottoms faced several crises from the pandemic to a citywide cyberattack She came under withering attack for her handling of protests after the murder of George Floyd in the spring of especially for allowing an armed encampment at a burned down Atlanta Wendy s that didn t end until a girl was murdered while riding in a car near the scorched restaurant One of the most of major lessons Bottoms reported she learned was the importance of being prepared for uncertain times When I left as mayor of Atlanta even in the midst of this historic economic downturn we still had million in our rainy day fund she commented We didn t lay off a single employee We even gave our sanitation workers additional pay each month hazard pay during COVID We didn t raise taxes we didn t furlough employees and it was because we planned ahead and we had a north star to reliably be able to deliver for our communities Georgia s referendum for governor is wide open with GOP Gov Brian Kemp term-limited A large number of candidates are expected to run and several have already thrown their hats into the ring Republican candidates who have entered the governor s race or are considering running for governor include Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr who declared his candidacy in November Lt Gov Burt Jones is expected to run against Carr for the chance to oppose the Democratic nominee in November Bottoms is the second Democratic candidate with name recognition to enter the race for governor In May Atlanta state Sen Jason Esteves launched his campaign Meg Scribner Esteves campaign manager responded to Bottoms announcement by saying they are ready to take on any new challenger Jason represents a new wave of Democratic leadership and that is already energizing voters in Georgia Scribner commented As a former coach Atlanta school board chair small business owner and state senator Georgians can count on Jason to stay in the fight and build a winning coalition that will flip the Governor s seat in Bottoms says her campaign will prioritize issues that are critical outside of Atlanta She disclosed if she s elected governor she ll push to expand Medicaid to cover fitness insurance for about people endorsement small businesses and eliminate guide income taxes We all want safe and thriving communities Bottoms commented We all want economic stability We all want job opportunities We all want access to quality citizens guidance We all want access to quality wellbeing care Bottoms mentioned she s ready to take criticism for not running for a second term leading the city of Atlanta She says points in her favor are the way she stood up to Trump in his first term during her first three years as Atlanta mayor Even though they disagree politically Bottoms says she s willing to work with any president We can work with any administration that s trying to do right by our communities then I ll be a leader that works alongside people even if we don t have the same political affiliation Bottoms stated But to the extent that policies are coming out of the White House like they are now that s harming our communities then I m going to fight to the bitter end to make sure that Georgia has what it necessities to thrive Andra Gillespie a political science professor at Emory University noted it s significant for Bottoms to have a strong turnout of Black voters in the primary and general balloting as well as winning advocacy outside of Atlanta She has the advantage of having led George s largest city Gillespie commented She has the advantage of having various endorsement from Washington D C Democratic figures I think a few of the disadvantages are the fact that this would be her first campaign running for statewide office It s not that she s a novice or an inexperienced candidate but I ve done research that would suggest that she would be better served if she held statewide office before the fact Gillespie commented For somebody like Sen Esteves he can test the water but if it doesn t look like it s going well he would have time to change if he needed to and return to the Senate Gillespie stated According to Gillespie the looming question among Democratic candidates is whether Stacey Abrams will make a third run after the governor s mansion after narrowly losing to Kemp in and then more decisively in Democrats need to resolve organizational problems to have a chance to beat a Republican for governor Gillespie explained They re all going to tout their own achievements and their own experience Gillespie noted I think the larger question for Democrats is who is best positioned to run against whoever the Republicans end up nominating for office In Gillespie sees a Republican opponent trying to pigeonhole Bottoms as a woke candidate challenged for her stances on COVID policies and handling of protests I expect that somebody might try to use that against her both in the primary and in the general polling she declared And then there s also the issue of having been out of the political spotlight for you know a long period of time The post Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms enters Georgia governor s race appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta