Keisha Lance Bottoms
Keisha Lance Bottoms is an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Atlanta, Georgia. She served as the 60th mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022 and earlier worked on the Atlanta City Council from 2010 to 2018.
Bottoms grew up in Atlanta and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Florida A&M University and a law degree from Georgia State University in 1994. She worked as a prosecutor and juvenile court attorney, became a magistrate judge in 2002, and ran unsuccessfully for Fulton Superior Court in 2008.
As mayor, she focused on issues like immigration policy, LGBTQ affairs, public safety, and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. She helped shape the city’s stance on ICE and launched LGBTQ initiatives. During her campaign for mayor in 2017, she faced some campaign finance questions and later returned some contributions.
Bottoms has held national roles in politics. She was the Democratic National Committee’s vice chair for civic engagement and voter participation (2021–2025). In June 2022, she joined the Biden White House as senior advisor and director of the Office of Public Engagement, serving until February 2023. In 2023, she was named to the President’s Export Council. She has announced a run for Governor of Georgia in 2026.
She is married to Derek W. Bottoms since 1994, and they have four children. Her husband works for The Home Depot. She is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and The Links, Inc.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:00 (CET).