Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms grabbed headlines with her announcement she won’t seek reelection. Her first term has seen a host of crises, including a cyberattack, the coronavirus pandemic, weeks of racial unrest and a sharp rise in crime. Georgia Today host Steve Fennessy and guest Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Bill Torpy explore what led to Bottoms' decision, and how the city has changed on her watch.
Monday on Political Rewind: Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that stops local governments from making sharp reductions to their police department budgets. Also, Atlanta’s mayoral election is now six months away, and a number of prominent players are considering whether to jump into the race after incumbent Keisha Lance Bottoms’ surprise announcement she will not seek reelection.
Friday on Political Rewind: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has announced that she will not run for reelection. In a letter, Bottoms highlighted her proudest accomplishments in office, but gave no reason for her decision not to seek a second term. We’ll look at what her withdrawal means for the race for mayor of Georgia’s most influential city.
Today on Political Rewind: The Atlanta police officer charged with felony murder in the death of Rayshard Brooks has been reinstated to duty by the city’s civil service board. In visits to Atlanta this week, U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sen. Lindsey Graham stepped up the GOP messaging war on big business.
Wednesday on Political Rewind: After an election cycle in which millions of Georgians chose to vote by mail, Republicans in the state Senate introduced a package of bills that will create new barriers to absentee voting.
Also: Former President Donald Trump’s battle to overturn the results of the presidential election appears to have helped suppressed Republican turnout in the Senate runoffs that elected Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has been named one of Glamour Magazine’s 2020 “Women of the Year,” among a slate of honorees that includes Oscar-winning actress Regina King, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill, Civil Rights leader Dolores Huerta, as well as four essential workers from New York’s Elmhurst Hospital, an epicenter of America’s fight against the coronavirus.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms evoked the legacy of the late civil rights legend John Lewis when calling on demonstrators to channel their frustrations into voting this fall.
The first-term mayor of Georgia’s capital city spoke on the final night of the Democratic National Convention – a nod to her growing prominence in the party beyond Atlanta politics. Bottoms, who was an early backer of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, was considered a contender for vice president.
Today on Political Rewind, Kamala Harris and former president Barack Obama headlined the third day of the Democratic National Convention last night. Later today, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is a featured speaker on the final night of the virtual convention, just hours before Joe Biden is set to accept his party’s nomination.
What has convention programming told us about the strategies Democrats will use in the final months of the presidential campaign? Does it reveal deeper trends within the party itself?
Monday on Political Rewind, the Democratic National Convention begins and Georgia will play a prominent role in the proceedings.
The pandemic forced Democrats to abandon plans to convene in Milwaukee. Instead, they become the first party to mount their nominating convention online. Can a virtual convention, with online speeches and meetings, unify and energize delegates as they head into the crucial final months of the campaign?
Friday on Political Rewind, a busy week of national and state politics comes to a close.
The Democratic Party holds its national convention next week. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms scored a prime-time spot Thursday night, just hours before Democratic nominee Joe Biden is scheduled to give his acceptance speech.
And the latest report from the White House’s coronavirus task force warns Georgia is failing to mitigate the spread of the virus. Case numbers remain high across the state this week, with two single-day records of virus deaths reached on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Friday on Political Rewind, the fall semester approaches as the pandemic still remains a public health crisis. Some parents remain unsure what schooling will look like in the midst of pandemic.
We discussed the latest on Georgia schools and the most recent developments in the dispute between Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over mask mandates.
Thursday on Political Rewind, we remember the life and legacy of civil rights icon C.T. Vivian. DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said the generation of Vivian and Lewis were an exceptional group of activists and leaders.
And, a feud between Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms develops further as the two attempt to reconcile their positions.
