Former President Joe Biden on Friday backed former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ campaign for governor in Georgia, his first endorsement since leaving office last year.
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“I’ve known her for a long time, and she’s something special,” Biden said in a video backing the former mayor, who served as a senior adviser in the Biden administration.
Biden added in the video that the “same qualities that made her a great mayor made her invaluable to our administration.” He called Bottoms “smart” and “focused” and said she “gets things done.”
“Georgia, she’s ready. She’s been ready,” said the former president, who included Bottoms on a short list of potential vice presidential running mates in 2020.
Bottoms is running in a crowded Democratic primary field, which also includes former Georgia state Sen. Jason Esteves, former state labor commissioner and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who served as a Republican but later switched parties.
Bottoms has held a lead in public polling in the race, but it’s unclear whether she’ll garner more than 50% of the vote and avoid a runoff after the May 19 primary.
Whoever wins the Democratic primary nomination will go on to face the eventual GOP gubernatorial nominee.
Georgia, a battleground state in federal elections, skews more Republican statewide and hasn’t elected a Democrat to be governor since 1999, when former Gov. Roy Barnes won and served until 2003.
In 2018, Democrat Stacey Abrams came within less than two percentage points of winning the Georgia gubernatorial contest against Brian Kemp, who is now governor. Kemp beat her again in a 2022 rematch election by more than seven percentage points.
The Republican primary field is also crowded and unlikely to avoid a runoff. Businessman Rick Jackson and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones currently lead the race in public polling, but Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state attorney general Chris Carr are also running. Kemp is term-limited.
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