When Keisha Lance Bottoms announced in 2021 that she would not seek reelection as mayor of Atlanta, many residents viewed it as the abrupt end to one of the city’s most challenging political periods in recent memory.

After leading Atlanta through the COVID-19 pandemic, protests following the killing of George Floyd, and mounting public pressure surrounding crime, policing and civil unrest, Bottoms — citing burnout and political fatigue — felt it was simply time to step away.

Years later, the former mayor sees that decision not as a cop-out, but as honesty and strength.

“It would have been much easier politically if I had packaged my exit up in a bow and presented it to the public,” Bottoms told Blavity in an exclusive interview. “But I was honest.”

Now, after serving in the White House under former President Joe Biden as senior adviser for public engagement and releasing her memoir The Rough Side of the Mountain, Bottoms is stepping back into electoral politics with a campaign for governor of Georgia.

On Tuesday, she secured victory in Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, avoiding a runoff and solidifying her position as one of the state’s most prominent Democratic figures heading into the general election.

A recent endorsement from Biden further strengthened Bottoms’ standing within the Democratic Party as she prepares for the next phase of the race.

Embracing childlike boldness

The version of Bottoms now reemerging on the campaign trail is one she says took years to rediscover.

Throughout her memoir, Bottoms reflects candidly on what she describes as years spent diluting parts of herself in order to succeed professionally. Long before she had language for concepts like imposter syndrome, she said she quietly internalized the belief that not every part of her story belonged in rooms shaped by power and prestige.

“For me, it was believing that I had to sand down part of myself — not believing that all of me was worthy to walk into these rooms,” she said. “Now we call it imposter syndrome. I didn’t know what to call it then.”

Looking back, Bottoms says she now understands that the very experiences she once tried to smooth over are what shaped her most deeply.

“Everything that I am is because of those experiences,” she said.

That realization, she explained, has felt like “a full-circle moment,” or an opportunity to “come back to myself” after years spent navigating public life under immense scrutiny.

She recalled someone recently commenting on the cover of her memoir, saying the little girl pictured there “looked like she was ready for the world.”

“And I was,” Bottoms said. “But at some point, that changed.”

Now, she says, she feels reconnected to the confidence she carried as a child growing up on Atlanta’s Westside.

“I’m happy to be back to the boldness I felt as a little girl,” she emphasized. “And I’m happy to own that publicly in this season of my life.”

In describing that journey, Bottoms referenced a phrase familiar in many Black households — advice often passed down through hardship, faith and experience alike.

“As my grandmother used to say, ‘just keep living,’” she said.

Quitting — and choosing to return

That personal evolution also shapes the way Bottoms now talks about leadership. Rather than distancing herself from the exhaustion that led her to step away from office in 2021, she speaks about it openly.

“People exit jobs and make career transitions often sooner than four years, but when you are a public official, four years is attached to you — eight years, or whatever the case may be,” she said. “I completed my term and I did it very proudly.”

Bottoms rejects the idea that leaving office represented retreat or political defeat.

“The decision I made was one of strength, not weakness,” she said.

Since then, she says both time and perspective have changed her. Her children are older. Her understanding of leadership has evolved. And her time inside the White House gave her a closer view of how government can, and should, deliver for communities often overlooked.

“People want to know not just what you’re going to do, but what you’ve already done,” Bottoms said.

Addressing voters’ concerns

As she campaigns across the Peach State, Bottoms says she is hearing a mixture of frustration, fear and exhaustion from Black voters in particular. But she also sees growing demands for leaders willing to move beyond symbolic rhetoric and produce tangible results around housing, economic opportunity and mental health support.

“Young people are talking about housing costs, jobs, safety and anxiety about the future,” she said. “As leaders and as a party, we have to spend less time deciding what we want to say and more time listening to what people are actually asking for.”

That emphasis on listening surfaced repeatedly throughout the conversation. Bottoms laughed while recalling her children telling her, “You’re not listening,” a lesson she says applies as much to parenting as it does to public service.

For Bottoms, the path back into politics appears rooted less in reinvention than obligation, and a belief that this political moment requires experienced leaders willing to fearlessly step up to the challenge.

“This season is calling for all of us to do something that may even be uncomfortable for us,” she said. “This time calls for us to step out of our comfort zone and do everything we can to make sure our communities are protected while we’re facing these challenges coming from the White House that I’ve never had to face in my lifetime.”