Atlanta's 60th Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who announced in a letter posted via Twitter on Thursday that she was not seeking reelection, became emotional during a press conference Friday morning.
Bottoms explained why she wasn't seeking a second term saying, "It's time to pass the baton on to someone else," Bottoms added that she would finish up her term, working to achieve her goals in her term. She also shared that during her first year in office, she knew there would be a chance she would not run for reelection, and not seeing a second term came from a place of strength, not weakness.
During the press conference, Bottoms was asked if her decision not to seek reelection due to surging crime and the reinstatement of APD Officer Garrett Rolfe, who the city fired without due process following the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks. Bottoms stood firm and said, "I disagree with the ruling." she continued, "the board disagreed, which was their right to disagree, but if I had it to do over again, I'd do it the same way.
On January 2, 2018, Mayor Bottoms was sworn and was the second Black woman elected to the position. Before becoming mayor, she was a member of the Atlanta City Council, representing part of Southwest Atlanta, and she also served as a judge. Bottoms is the only mayor in Atlanta's history to have served in all three branches of government.
Earlier this year, Mayor Bottoms was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as vice-chair of civic engagement and voter protection at the Democratic National Caucus for the 2021-2025 term.