Who is Keisha Lance Bottoms? What to know about Atlanta mayor on Biden’s VP short list
With less than six months to go before the November 2020 election, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is whittling down his list of potential vice presidential picks.
Biden, 77, has said he will pick a woman as his running mate, and a handful of Black candidates have landed on the shortlist. Among them is Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Bottoms has ascended to the national stage, gaining praise for her criticism of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to roll back coronavirus restrictions, and most recently, her candid response to the death of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer outside a Wendy’s on June 12.
For some, the shooting served as yet another example of police violence against Black people and came amid protests over of the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed in police custody when a Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.
As a Black mother of four, Bottoms said the incident with Brooks “pissed me off” and said she didn’t believe the officer’s use of force was justified, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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Brooks, 27, had fallen asleep in the drive thru lane of the restaurant, and during a cordial discussion with officers, admitted to have been drinking. Police body cam footage shows Brooks willingly taking a breathalyzer test, but the incident turned violent when officers tried to arrest him.
Video shows Brooks taking one of the officer’s tasers and pointing it at them. The officer shot him twice in the back, killing him, video shows.
“It didn’t have to end that way,” Bottoms said of the shooting, the AJC reported.. “It makes me sad and I’m frustrated. Nothing I am gonna do is going to change what happened on [June 12.]”
The mayor said she already has her hands full dealing with the issues in her own city, telling Axios on HBO that she’s “thinking a lot less about a VP conversation” with all that’s going on.
“I’ve not given it a lot of thought at all,” she said, according to the news site. “But, you know, if the vice president felt that I would be the person to help him win in November, and I would be best suited, it is certainly something I would give serious consideration to.”
A CNN analysis currently puts Bottoms in the No. 2 spot of the top 10 candidates being vetted by Biden’s campaign.
Here’s what to know about the Atlanta native:
She’s a first-term mayor
Bottoms, 50, was elected mayor in 2017, narrowly beating opponent Mary Norwood by about 800 votes, according to ABC News. The Atlanta native, who formerly served as a judge and longtime city council member, is only the second woman to serve in the position - Shirley Franklin was the first, the outlet reported.
She threw her support behind Biden early on
Bottoms came out as one of Biden’s early supporters and endorsed him for president in June 2019.
Citing his political experience, Bottoms said she believed the former vice president was best positioned to beat President Donald Trump in the upcoming election.
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“For me, it was most important that we have a president who doesn’t have to walk in the door and figure out where the light switch is, that we have somebody who can lead on Day One,” she told the Associated Press at the time.
She also previously campaigned for Biden as part of his “We Know Joe” bus tour across 20 key counties in Iowa last year, according to the AJC.
She doesn’t have federal experience
Bottoms is the “only mayor in Atlanta’s history” to have served in all three branches of government, according to her website. Unlike others reportedly being considered for VP, including California Sen. Kamala Harris and former national security adviser Susan Rice, Bottoms has never held federal office.
“The idea that she’s had some experience where she had to manage a bureaucracy and she’s had to handle multiple offices would distinguish [Bottoms],” Andra Gillespie, associate professor of political science at Emory University in Atlanta told CNBC in a recent interview.
However, ”being a federal lawmaker is very different than actually being in an elected position of power where the buck stops with you,” Gillespie added, according to the news site.
Others being considered for Biden’s running mate include Florida Rep. Val Demings, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, according to CNN.
She supports police reforms
USA TODAY said Bottoms has “found her voice” after being thrust into the national spotlight amid debates over community policing.
After the shooting death of Brooks, 29, Bottoms called for the immediate firings of the two officers involved. Officer Garrett Rolfe, who shot Brooks, was ultimately fired and charged in his murder, the Associated Press reported. A second officer, Devin Brosnan, has been placed on administrative leave.
Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned after the incident.
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Bottoms has also called for changes to the department’s use of force polices and on June 15 announced a number of administrative orders aimed at transforming the city’s police.
Gillespie pointed to Bottoms’ leadership during these “tumultuous” times as a reason why she’s emerged as a top pick for the Biden campaign.
“She was vocal yet respectful,” Gillespie told local TV station 11 Alive. “In many ways she was threading a needle between more moderate and more radical camps in a way that the Biden campaign may find pretty attractive.”
Biden is expected to announce his pick by August 1, the station reported.
