Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms hints at run for governor

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia’s governor seat is up for grabs in 2026 — and a new candidate has possibly tossed her hat into the ring.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced her intention to run at an exclusive women’s leadership conference in California on Thursday, according to BET.

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“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that there is a ‘fierce urgency of now.’ For the people of Georgia, that includes having leaders who aren’t blindly following Trump off of a moral and economic cliff, but focused on the pressing needs in our communities,” she told BET. “I have previously publicly shared that I was seriously considering a run for governor and expect to make a formal announcement soon.”

Bottoms also hinted on social media she could enter the gubernatorial race. She posted a screenshot of a news article about her consideration with the caption, “Trust the process.”

Bottoms served only one term as mayor from 2018 to 2022. She is the only Atlanta mayor to serve one term since Sam Massell’s loss to Maynard Jackson in 1973.

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Before becoming mayor, Bottoms served on the Atlanta City Council. After she declined to run for reelection, then-President Joe Biden nominated her as vice chair of civic engagement and voter protection at the Democratic National Convention.

In June 2022, Bottoms joined the Biden administration as senior advisor and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Bottoms also served as a member of the Biden administration’s export council and as a member of his reelection campaign.

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Bottoms would be the first major Democratic candidate in Georgia’s wide-open 2026 governor’s race. Gov. Brian Kemp has been in office for two terms and can’t seek a third, as per state law.

So far, Georgia Attorney General and staunch Republican Chris Carr is the only announced candidate in the race.

“I’ve seen what it takes to be successful,” Carr told The Associated Press in his November 2024 announcement. “I want to run as the proven conservative who will create jobs for hardworking Georgians, keep our families and neighborhoods safe and vigorously defend our Constitution and freedoms.”

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U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat, filed paperwork to form a committee that would help her hire staff and raise money for a potential governor’s race in early March. But she suspended her bid a few weeks later, citing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.

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On the Republican side, Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones — an unindicted co-conspirator in the now-stalled election interference case against President Donald Trump in Fulton County — and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger have been rumored to be potential candidates.

State Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, is a possible gubernatorial contender on the Democratic side, along with Michael Thurmond, a former DeKalb County CEO, state lawmaker and Georgia labor commissioner.