Georgia governor's race draws the ex-mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms

ATLANTA (AP) — Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms took a big step Monday toward running for governor of Georgia in 2026, about four years after the Democrat broke Atlanta tradition by skipping a second mayoral run.

Although she hasn’t officially announced she’s entered the race, Bottoms filed the necessary paperwork Monday to raise money to campaign for governor and has repeatedly signaled she's interested. Two other high-profile potential candidates have decided not to run, creating uncertainty over who will emerge as a top contender.

As one of former President Joe Biden’s early supporters, she was among the Black women considered to be his running mate. She left the mayor’s office in 2022 after a tense end to her term and became a CNN commentator before joining the Biden administration as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

“I am honored and humbled by the encouragement I have received as I have considered running for Governor,” Bottoms said in a statement.

So far, Bottoms faces competition from fellow Atlantan and state Democratic Sen. Jason Esteves, a lawyer and business owner with much less name recognition, in a race to replace that state's popular term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

Her surprise decision not to run for reelection as mayor came amid a spike in homicides during the COVID-19 pandemic and protests over police brutality in 2020 after George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Bottoms amassed national praise for ordering protestors to “go home” alongside Atlanta hip-hop stars Killer Mike and T.I. but added that as a mother of Black sons, she empathized with people angry about police violence. She promised to review Atlanta’s policing policies.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and Kemp bashed her for COVID-19 and public safety policies and Buckhead, Atlanta’s wealthiest and whiter neighborhood, tried to secede from the majority Black city.

Weeks after Floyd's death, Rayshard Brooks, a Black man, was killed by an Atlanta police officer after a struggle following a field sobriety test. Atlanta's police chief resigned hours after Brooks' killing, which sparked renewed protests in the city.

Former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond has also expressed interest in running for governor as a Democrat, and two-time nominee Stacey Abrams could choose to run again.

Republican Attorney General Chris Carr announced his run for governor last year and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is expected to announce his candidacy.

Early in her term, Bottoms eliminated cash bail in Atlanta and ended the city jail's relationship with federal immigration enforcement agencies along with other city mayors in the wake of Trump's harsh immigration policies during his first term.

Her tenure as mayor began under the shadow of a federal investigation into corruption during the administration of her predecessor, Kasim Reed. And just a couple of months into her time in office a devastating cyberattack compromised the city's computer network.

Bottoms helped negotiate a long-term downtown redevelopment project, although Amazon chose to build its second headquarters in northern Virginia instead of Atlanta.