ATLANTA — Keisha Lance Bottoms shocked the city last night when she announced to a group of supporters that she would not be seeking reelection as mayor of the City of Atlanta.
Bottoms cited her faith as the catalyst of her decision.
“When you have faith and you pray for God’s wisdom and guidance — in the same way that it was very clear to me almost 5 years ago that I should run for mayor of Atlanta — it is abundantly clear to me today that it is time to pass the baton on to someone else,” Bottoms said at a news conference Friday morning.
Bottoms said she sees the decision as one made from a position of strength and not weakness and repeatedly said it was based on prayers for guidance. Bottoms said she does not know what is next for her.
The mayor also rejected earlier reports that said she was going to move into a position at Walgreens after her term expires.
“I am not going to Walgreens in Chicago, Derek is not going to Walgreens in Idaho,” Bottoms said. “I promise you, that is not true. I don’t know what’s next for me and my family.”
Bottoms said she announced her intent not to run today to give other candidates time to launch campaigns so that voters would be able to choose the best candidate.
The election for mayor of Atlanta is Nov. 2.
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