Voting For Keisha Lance Bottoms Is More Important Than Liking Her

Choosing a candidate who truly represents you is an ideal often reserved for white men in American politics. And since politics are often an exercise in practicality over preference, Georgia voters need to be pragmatic on Election Day.

Keisha Lance Bottoms is the best choice for governor.

Liking her isn’t a requirement; preventing her opponent from being elected is.

Former President Barack Obama is set to join Bottoms and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff for a rally in Atlanta during the final week of October, as the campaign has called in the big dogs to give her one final boost before the election. Like so many Black women before her who have tried to reach the highest seats in American politics, the conversation is less about Bottoms’ accomplishments and more about picking apart who she is, or isn’t.

“Most Democrats who are being honest are nervous about the campaign of Mayor Bottoms, who, to be clear, brings a lot of strengths to the race,” Andrew Heaton, a Georgia-based Democratic strategist, told Politico during the spring. “[Republicans] are going to have to find messages against the other candidates. They’ve already got the attack ads on Mayor Bottoms written.”

Critics often highlight superficial issues, whether it was her decision not to seek a second term as mayor of Atlanta, the way she went about handling a global pandemic — in which Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, attempted to sue her for enforcing a mask mandate when millions were dying during the peak of COVID-19 — or the fact that a Black woman from Atlanta can’t properly cook macaroni and cheese. This type of “hate” is something Black women too often experience — just ask Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris.

According to MSNOW, fifty-seven percent of eligible Black voters live in the South, as Georgia serves as the state with the third-largest Black population, with the Atlanta metropolitan area hosting the second-most Black residents in the country. Given the history of the state of Georgia and Atlanta serving as the home of civil rights movements and Black economic and cultural empowerment for decades, as well as being the face of overt voter suppression and racism, the idea of having an HBCU alum (Florida A&M) who is a former judge, city council member, mayor, and senior White House adviser on the precipice of making history, despite the current administration, seems like the perfect time for voters and Democrats of all colors — but specifically Black ones — to fall in line instead of hemming and hawing over inconsequential pet peeves.

Look around, this isn’t the time to sit out elections because a perfect candidate isn’t on the ballot.

Since 2005, Georgia has had a Republican trifecta, giving the GOP control of the Governor’s mansion, the state senate, and the state house of representatives for over two decades. With a Bottoms win or a legislative victory, Democrats in Georgia could finally regain some power. To put things in proper context, Republicans have been in control of one of the Blackest states in America — four years before the Swag Surfin’ was invented.

“I’m going to make sure that Georgia’s the best place to do business and reduce affordability to the lowest it’s ever been, and I’m going to be this man’s favorite governor,” Bottoms’ opponent, Rick Jackson, said at a campaign rally this summer as he pointed at Donald Trump. Just like the occupant of the Oval Office, Jackson is a billionaire, political newcomer, and businessman who thinks the answer to every issue is a mathematical one, despite siding with a man who has proven that he only cares about figures that go into his bank account. “Affordability is not a political problem. Affordability is a business problem,” declared Jackson. “It requires business solutions, just like this man’s [Trump] been doing all his life.”

In a year when midterm election results could shift the future of this country, the South has been at the center of that conversation. In Florida, Angie Nixon is trying to do the impossible: win a statewide election without a war chest or national name recognition as a Black female progressive Democrat running for the U.S. Senate. 

And in Georgia, Bottoms is trying to add “Georgia governor” next to “former Atlanta mayor” on her resume. Despite all that, too many are still ignoring their efforts. In August, the Democratic National Committee failed to select Atlanta as the host city for the 2028 Democratic National Convention, announcing Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia as finalists.

“For the DNC to not even include Atlanta in the shortlist means that the DNC does not consider Atlanta or Georgia relevant to the past, present, or future of the Democratic Party. It seems that Ken Martin [Party Chair] doesn’t even believe himself when he said that the road to the White House runs through the South,” Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens wrote in retort to the decision. According to the Associated Press, the party didn’t specify why Georgia’s capital city wasn’t selected. “They are afraid to leave their comfort zone and blind to the fact that the South is the answer,” Dickens declared. “They are abandoning Atlanta, abandoning the South, and once again abandoning Black voters.”

However, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock thinks the Trump administration and the GOP’s consistent, unforgivable mistakes could lead more voters to invest in the South’s untapped political potential, and in candidates like Bottoms.

“What is different about this moment is that we have an administration that is wearing their bigotry on their sleeve,” he said. “The cruelty that we’re seeing unleashed, not only against Black people, but against people of color, against people who are perceived to be other — the cruelty is baked into the cake. It’s their electoral strategy.”

A few weeks ago, Bottoms and Jackson met for what is scheduled to be their only debate. As she took the stage, it reminded everyone that Georgia voters don’t need to be part of “The Keisha Lance Bottoms Fan Club.” They simply need to recognize that another white man who seeks to operate like Trump isn’t the solution.

“Georgia is a work in progress, and we’ve got a lot of work to do, but we have the power to make Georgia more affordable, to protect a woman’s right to choose, to protect our voting rights, to protect our communities from out-of-control data center growth, to make sure every child has the opportunity to reach their God-given potential, and to make sure we are protected from the harmful policies of Donald Trump,” Bottoms explained. “What we do in this moment will echo through history, so let’s choose hope over fear, progress over division, and come together to build a better Georgia for everyone. While my opponent is running to enrich himself and be Trump’s favorite governor, I want to be yours, Georgia, and I hope to earn your vote.”

America is a mess right now because millions of people couldn’t stomach the idea of voting for an overqualified Black woman. Let’s hope that the citizens of Georgia have learned from the mistakes of this country. 

Electing Keisha Lance Bottoms won’t compensate for Kamala Harris’ loss, but it would give us a reason to believe that America isn’t as dumb as it seems.

Georgia: vote with your head, not your misogynoir.

SEE ALSO:

Keisha Lance Bottoms Wins Her Primary—What Does It Mean for Her Georgia Governor’s Race?

Could Georgia Get A Governor Named Keisha?