Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Georgia Democrats are worried their front-runner will fumble a \u201conce in a generation\u201d chance to win the governor\u2019s mansion this year.<\/p>\n
Keisha Lance Bottoms has what should be an enviable r\u00e9sum\u00e9: former judge, city council member, mayor of Atlanta and senior White House adviser<\/a>. She\u2019s dominating public polling in the primary, bolstered by high name recognition in the Atlanta metro area.<\/p>\n But a third of the Democratic electorate remains undecided,<\/a> and her most high-profile endorsement is from former President Joe Biden, who left office deeply unpopular<\/a> among Americans.<\/p>\n The wariness from Georgia Democrats stems from a simmering concern about Bottoms\u2019 ability to win a general election, conversations with more than a half-dozen strategists and officials revealed. They warn that the crown jewel of Bottoms\u2019 work experience \u2014 leading the state\u2019s biggest city \u2014 will be a major drag to her campaign. Her tenure was marked by turmoil as Atlanta, like other major cities at the time, grappled with<\/a> the onset of the pandemic, social unrest and spikes in crime.<\/p>\n Now, they worry, Bottoms could upend their best opportunity to flip the governorship for the first time in two decades.<\/p>\n \u201cKeisha, because she’s so strongly identified with the city of Atlanta, obviously faces a very high hurdle,\u201d said Howard Franklin, a Georgia-based Democratic strategist who is unaffiliated in the primary, but briefly worked for one of Bottoms\u2019 competitors in 2013. \u201cI don’t think there’s anybody who’s paying attention to this race who thinks that Republicans are anything less than prepared to criticize and to pile on to the criticism of the four years that she was in office.\u201d<\/p>\n The Democrats interviewed, some of whom were granted anonymity to speak openly about the primary, fear her record will be easily caricatured by Republicans in the general election, leaving her vulnerable to attacks on issues like public safety.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Republicans will eat her for lunch. The Republicans are begging us to nominate her,\u201d said one longtime Democratic strategist unaffiliated in the race. \u201cIf she’s at the top of the ticket, the whole ticket loses. If she’s not \u2026 we can sweep it. The stakes are that high.\u201d<\/p>\n TaNisha Cameron, a spokesperson for Bottoms\u2019 campaign, dismissed the concerns as political hand-wringing and said the Democrat is focused on \u201cstanding up to Donald Trump\u2019s candidate for governor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPolitical insiders have underestimated Keisha Lance Bottoms her entire career, and she has constantly proven them wrong by winning elections and beating their hand-picked candidates. Keisha is leading in the polls in both the primary and general election because voters like her vision for Georgia\u2019s future and her record of delivering for the people of Atlanta,\u201d Cameron said in a statement, going on to highlight how Bottoms attracted nine Fortune 500 companies to Atlanta while in office and left the city with a $180 million budget surplus.<\/p>\n Central to Bottoms\u2019 pitch to voters is a pledge to expand Medicaid in Georgia and guarantee universal pre-K statewide. In mid-May, just a few weeks after the Supreme Court significantly limited the power<\/a> of the Voting Rights Act, Bottoms released a comprehensive plan<\/a> to protect access to the ballot in Georgia.<\/p>\n This could be the Democratic Party\u2019s last shot in a generation to grasp all the levers of political power in Georgia. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is set to redraw<\/a> the state\u2019s congressional and state legislative districts ahead of 2028. And as President Donald Trump revives personal grievances about the 2020 election, the leading GOP gubernatorial candidates are vocal election deniers who continue to sow doubt about Georgia\u2019s voting systems in a state that will be central to the 2028 presidential race.<\/p>\n Each of Bottoms\u2019 Democratic primary opponents is running in their own loosely defined lanes: former DeKalb County executive Michael Thurmond as the steady hand with experience in statewide office, former state Sen. Jason Esteves as the progressive next-generation leader, and Republican-turned-Democrat Geoff Duncan<\/a> as a moderate trying to appeal to voters in the center.<\/p>\n But those three contenders for runner-up have found themselves in a near statistical tie<\/a> for second place for months. So far, they\u2019re collectively holding Bottoms below the 50 percent threshold that she would need to win the race outright and advance to the general election.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s unfortunate right now, but in the state of Georgia versus what we saw in 2018 with Stacey Abrams, or what we saw with Warnock \u2014 we’re missing the light,\u201d said Cobb County Democratic Chair Essence Johnson, who\u2019s staying neutral in the primary. \u201cWe don’t have a true, strong light, because there’s so many differences. It’s great, because that shows what democracy is. But again, there’s a lot of candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n Some Democrats don\u2019t see a major issue with Bottoms\u2019 potential nomination \u2014 especially with the GOP in a tougher position, staring down Trump\u2019s cratering approval ratings and struggling to message on voters\u2019 cost of living concerns and an unpopular war in Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Republican Party is very underwater. I think the Republican Party is more underwater than Keisha Lance Bottoms is,\u201d said John Jackson, the former DeKalb County Democratic Chair. \u201cAt the end of the day, she’s a competitive general election candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n One early general election poll<\/a> shows Bottoms leading the three top Republicans running for governor, but all within the survey\u2019s margin of error.<\/p>\n A Bottoms win would be historic: She would be the first Black woman elected governor in the history of the country \u2014 and the first Black governor of the Peach State.<\/p>\n The increased attention toward Bottoms\u2019 performance with public safety did not happen in a vacuum, as several Black women \u2014 including former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and D.C.\u2019s Muriel Bowser \u2014 faced extra scrutiny<\/a> from critics as they guided major American cities through the depths of the pandemic and nationwide protests.<\/p>\n Bottoms\u2019 defenders are confident in her standing with voters.<\/p>\n \u201cI have seen the kind of hand-wringing, and it is predominantly coming from very, very, insider politico Atlanta circles,\u201d said Kristen Kiefer, Democratic chair in Houston County, which is located in central Georgia. Because of her party role, she cannot endorse a candidate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we saw from here, far from Atlanta, was somebody that was willing to stand up to the governor over mask mandates,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat we saw during social unrest was the city of Atlanta was making space for peaceful protests, but then, too, we all remember the night that Keisha was on TV with Killer Mike and T.I. telling everyone to go home and being ready to shut it down when it got out of hand.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, others remain worried that Bottoms could hurt their chances, even in a midterm year that favors their party.<\/p>\n \u201cMost 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,\u201d said Andrew Heaton, a Georgia-based Democratic strategist who is unaffiliated in the primary. \u201c[Republicans] are going to have to find messages against the other candidates. They’ve already got the attack ads on Mayor Bottoms written.\u201d<\/p>\n Bottoms touts her wins in city hall on the campaign trail. In interviews, she has highlighted her administration\u2019s success in building more affordable housing in Atlanta and authorizing pay raises for the city\u2019s law enforcement<\/a>. Still, her abrupt decision not to seek a second term in 2021, following a period of unrest in Atlanta, continues to haunt her.<\/p>\n \u201cShe’s got to answer some questions. She’s got to be able to answer these questions well: Why didn’t you run for reelection as mayor of Atlanta? There’s a perception that she ran away from that job,\u201d said Jackson, whose tenure as DeKalb County Democratic Chair overlapped with Bottoms\u2019 time as mayor. (Atlanta extends from Fulton County into DeKalb.)<\/p>\n At the time, Bottoms said in a press conference<\/a> that it was \u201ctime to pass the baton on to someone else,\u201d but did not detail her reasons for giving up the opportunity for another four years in office.<\/p>\n Pressed about her decision in a recent interview with Atlanta News First<\/a>, Bottoms emphasized that she completed her term and didn\u2019t skip out early.<\/p>\n \u201cI served the entirety of my first term as mayor,\u201d she said. \u201cI was asked to go to the Biden White House three times, and decided not to do it because I wanted to complete the term that I had been elected to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision had followed a pounding four years in office that was dominated by the pandemic, a sharp rise in violent crime<\/a> and protests over the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta. Bottoms\u2019 response to the city\u2019s social unrest drew bipartisan praise<\/a> \u2014 particularly her impassioned remarks<\/a> at a press conference with law enforcement telling protesters to \u201cgo home.\u201d<\/p>\n But Democrats and Republicans alike have already seized on her perceived biggest vulnerabilities ahead of Election Day: that a reminder of her tenure in office will evoke flashbacks of burning buildings<\/a> and unrest.<\/p>\n Esteves, the former state senator, attacked Bottoms on the debate stage<\/a> last month over the death of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner,<\/a> who was shot and killed while riding in a car near protests at the site where Atlanta police fatally shot Rayshard Brooks.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not allow gangs to take over blocks. We lived through 2020 together. It was the most trying time in recent history in our country,\u201d Bottoms responded. \u201cI made every decision that I thought was the best decision at that time. But you cannot have the death of a child \u2014 of any child \u2014 and not wonder what, if anything, you could have done differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans, who have otherwise been mired in their own competitive and rancorous primary<\/a>, have found time to preview their general election attacks against Bottoms. In an April ad<\/a>, billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson said the former mayor “abandoned” her city in a crucial moment.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the city needed her, she let Atlanta burn,\u201d Jackson says over footage of protests in downtown Atlanta.<\/p>\n That early Republican effort to attack Bottoms\u2019 record is exactly what has some Democrats worried about her strength in a general election.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a strategic choice. Sometimes when we make these choices in voting, some of the choices can be emotional, some of them can be related to personal ties,\u201d said state Rep. Michelle Au, who is backing Duncan in the gubernatorial primary.<\/p>\n \u201cBut really the most important thing \u2014 or even the only important thing \u2014 is: Can this Democrat win? Because we can get a Democrat out of the primary, and that’s all fine, but if they can’t win in November, it does not achieve my goal.\u201d<\/p>\n