Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms mulling Georgia gubernatorial run
Former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, said she is considering a run to be Georgia's next governor.
Bottoms, who most recently served in the Biden administration, told Fox 5 Atlanta that she is seriously contemplating running in the Georgia gubernatorial election in 2026 but wants to finish some things she is working on first, including a new book.
She also knocked President Donald Trump, who she believes is already failing to deliver on his campaign promises, as she eyes a return to public office.
The former mayor further criticized the president for mass deporting illegal migrants who have not committed violent crimes.
"I don't think there are many people who are against people who have violent criminal records being deported if they are in the country illegally," she said. "When I see the raids, I immediately think of the families that are left behind, and it's reminiscent of family separation policies that I had to deal with when I was mayor of Atlanta."
Bottoms resigned earlier this month from the White House, where she served on President Joe Biden's Export Council. Trump claimed on Truth Social that he fired her after he took office, but she provided a letter from Biden thanking her for her service, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
"I had already resigned. I sent in my resignation letter the first week of January saying it was effective Jan. 20, and it also was an unpaid position," Bottoms said.
She also previously served in the Biden administration as senior advisor to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement from July 2022 until April 2023.
Bottoms also wanted to address critics who say she quit her job as Atlanta's mayor when she decided not to run for re-election in 2021.
"I think people forget that mayors are elected to a four-year term," she said. "I finished my term. If we want people to serve as mayor for eight years, we should make sure that they are elected to an eight-year term."
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